^9fs~._  »^--»  r  : 


•^  V  ■•••■■ 


CIHM 
Microfiche 
Series 
(IVIonographis) 


ICIVIH 

Collection  de 
microfiches 
(monographies) 


HI 


Canadian  Instituta  for  Historical  IMicroraproductiont  /  Inititut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  hittoriquas 


©1995 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes  /  Notes  technique  et  bibliographlques 


The  Institute  tias  attempted  to  obtain  the  best  original 
copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this  copy  which 
may  be  bibliographically  unique,  which  may  alter  any  of 
the  images  in  the  reproduction,  or  which  may 
significantly  change  the  usual  method  of  filming  are 
checked  below, 

I   A      Coloured  covers  / 
' — '      Couverture  de  couleur 

I     I      Covers  damaged  / 

—  Couverture  endommagee 

I     I      Covers  restored  and/or  laminatsd  / 
Couverture  restauree  et/ou  pelliculee 

I     I      Cover  title  missing  /  Le  litre  de  couverture  manque 

r~j      Coloured  maps  /  Cartes  geographiques  en  couleur 

ly/    Coloured  ink  (i,e,  other  'han  blue  or  black)  / 

Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 

I     I      Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations  / 

—  Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 

I     I      Bo-jnd  with  other  material  / 

Relie  avec  d'autres  documents 

I     I      Only  edition  available  / 
' — '      Seule  edition  disponible 

I  I  Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin  /  La  rellure  serree  peut 
causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la  dislorsion  le  long  de 
la  marge  interieure. 

I  I  Blank  leaves  added  during  restorations  may  appear 
within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these  have 
been  omitted  from  filming  /  [I  se  peut  que  certaines 
pages  blanches  aioutees  lors  d'une  restauration 
apparaissent  dans  le  texte,  mais,  lorsque  cela  etait 
possible,  ces  pages  n'ont  pas  ele  lilmees. 


L'Institut  a  microfilme  le  meilleur  examplaire  qu'il  lui  a 
ete  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details  de  eel  exem- 
plaire  qui  sont  peut-etre  uniques  du  point  de  vue  bibli- 
ographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier  une  image  reproduite, 
ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une  modifications  dans  la  meth- 
ode  normale  de  filmage  sont  indiques  ci-dessous, 

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a  nouveau  de  fa?on  a  oblenir  la  meilleure 
image  possible. 

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ayant  des  colorations  variables  ou  des  decol- 
orations sont  filmees  deux  fois  afin  d'obtenir  la 
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D 


Additional  comments  / 
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This  Item  is  filmed  at  ttie  rsduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  filme  au  taux  de  reduction  indique  ci-dessom 


14X 



18X 

ax 

26  X 

MX 

J 

I 

12X 

'.SX 

»x 

i4X 

28  X 

32  X 

Th*  copy  fllmad  h«r*  hu  baan  raproduead  thanks 
to  tha  ganaroiity  of: 

Bibliothique  B^ndrale, 
Univtriiti  Lival, 
Quibec,  Ouibac. 

Tha  imagat  appaaring  hara  ara  tha  bait  quality 
poatlbla  coniidaring  tha  condition  and  lagibillty 
of  tha  original  copy  and  In  kaaping  with  tha 
filming  contract  apacificationa. 


^ 


Original  coplas  in  printad  papar  eovar*  ara  fllmad 
baginning  with  tha  front  eovar  and  anding  on 
tha  last  paga  with  a  printad  or  illuatratad  Impraa- 
lion,  or  tha  back  eovar  whan  appropriata.  All 
othar  original  copias  ara  fllmad  baginning  on  tha 
firat  paga  with  a  printad  or  Illuatratad  Impraa- 
aion.  and  anding  on  tha  laat  paga  with  a  printad 
or  illuatratad  impraaaion. 


Tha  last  racordad  frama  on  aach  microficha 
ahall  contain  tha  symbol  "^^  Imaaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  tha  symbol  ▼  Imaaning  "END"), 
whichavar  applias. 

Mapa,  platas.  charts,  ate.,  may  ba  fllmad  at 
diffarant  raduction  ratios.  Thosa  too  larga  to  ba 
antiraly  includad  in  ona  axpoaura  ara  fllmad 
baginning  in  tha  uppar  laft  hand  cornar.  laft  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  framas  as 
raquirad.  Tha  following  diagrams  illustrata  tha 
mathod: 


'""'  IPS'! 


1 

2 

3 

1  2 

4  5 


L'axampliirt  fUmt  fut  rtproduit  gric*  t  la 
gtntrotiU  d«: 

BibliotMque  ginirile. 
University  Laval, 
Quibac,  Quibac. 

L«  imagas  tuivantai  ont  M  raproduitas  avac  la 
plua  grand  tain,  compta  tanu  da  la  condition  at 
da  la  nattat«  da  I'axamplaira  film*,  at  an 
eonformit*  avac  laa  condltiona  du  contrat  da 
filmaga. 


Laa  axamplairaa  originaux  dont  la  couvartura  an 
papiar  aat  imprimaa  iont  filmti  an  commandant 
par  la  pramiar  plat  at  an  tarminant  toit  par  la 
darnitra  paga  qui  comporta  una  amprainta 
d'impraaaion  ou  d'illuatration,  aoit  par  la  lacond 
plat,  aalon  la  eaa.  Toua  laa  autraa  axamplairaa 
originaux  aont  fiimAa  an  commandant  par  la 
pramitra  paga  qui  comporta  una  amprainta 
d'impraaaion  ou  d'illuatration  at  an  tar-ninant  par 
la  darnlAra  paga  qui  comporta  una  talla 
amprainta. 


Un  daa  aymbolaa  auivanta  apparattra  sur  la 
darnitra  imaga  da  chaqua  microficha,  lalon  la 
caa:  la  aymbola  — *  aignifia  "A  SUIVRE",  la 
aymbola  ▼  aignifia  "FIN". 

Laa  cartaa.  planchaa,  tablaaux.  ate,  pauvant  itre 
filmte  t  daa  taux  da  reduction  diffirants. 
Loraqua  la  doeumant  aat  trop  grand  pour  itra 
raproduit  an  un  aaul  clichi,  il  aat  film*  i  partir 
da  I'angia  supAriaur  gauciia,  da  gaucha  i  droita, 
at  da  haut  an  baa.  an  prenant  la  nombra 
d'imagaa  nicasaaira.  Lea  diagrammaa  suivants 
illuatrant  la  mMhoda. 


2 

3 

5 

6 

MIOOCOPV    RJSOIUTION    TEST   CHA«T 

(ANSI  ond  ISO  TEST  CHART  No    2| 


1.0    Irlii  m 


I.I 


1.25 


2.2 


12.0 


1.8 


u 


1.6 


APPLIED  IIVHGE     In 


—  "S        Rocli 


?16)   482  -  0300  - 
•''6')    288  -  5989  -  Fa 


'orl,  M609        USA 


♦    FAITH    ♦ 


<ismmrmm^ 


w: 


^»i:j#'- 


i 


,  THE  CONFIDENCE 
7!^^      OF   F.JTH 

At'  ■'•      - 


BY 


J.  STUART  HOLDEN.  M.  A. 

"  Thi  Ptici  or  Power,"  «te. 


'  »w  YoKic  Chicago  Torokto 

Fleming    H.   Revell    Company 

LOHDON  AND  E E I N B D « O H 


-h.iM 


'.I  i'  ,• 


^c:>xi\i'_r  ... 


rtu. 


f',f 


Copyright,  1016,  by 
FLEMING  H.   REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York:  158  Fif.h  Avenue 
Chicago:  17  N.  Wabash  Ave. 
Toronto:  25  Richinond  St.,  W. 
London:  ai  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:    100    "rinces    Street 


V 


I 


i 


,.  iff-  ,?       "   -s.^. 


.yi*i(f,i 


i 


So 


The  ever  glorious     ;mory  of  my  many  friends 
in  that  inromparable  band  of  young  men 

who,  for  the  honour  of  God  anH  Motherland, 
in  the  days  of  the  Grea     7ar, 
intJ  ntt  their  livei  unu  thi  utath. 


i-R^m-  '  ,fci|^|b-4 -,1     _:3. 


■  ■■   .   -aft         « 


,5j 


«^''ix^  .,"    0.: 


'iffl''- 


PREFACE 


THE  sermons  which,  in  their  abridged  form, 
make  up  this  volume  have  been  preached 
in  the  ordinary  course  of  my  ministry  dur- 
ing the  past  anxious  months.  They  have  been  se- 
lected on  no  definite  plan  beyond  the  fact  that 
each  of  them  at  the  time  of  its  delivery  called 
forth  a  measure  of  testimony  from  those  who 
recognized  in  it  some  voice  of  God.  While  it  has 
been,  of  course,  necessary  to  make  frequent  refer- 
ence to  the  special  circumstances  and  needs  of  the 
time,  it  has  been  my  aim  to  deal  with  those  sure 
things  which  war  cannot  shake,  and  which  are  an 
interpretation  of  life  in  every  age.  On  this  ac- 
count it  is  hoped  that  these  words  may  convey  a 
message  to  many  outside  the  circle  of  their  first 
utterance  and  beyond  the  dark  days  of  our  na- 
tional trial.  T  s.  H 
St.  Paul's, 

PoRTMAN  Square. 


•-■■"r. 


•^Mmmi^Lsmmi^^mmmi 


CONTENTS 


I.     Through    Concern    to  Confi- 
dence     

II.    Life's  Sure  Guidance  . 

III.  "  Prepare  Ye  the  Way  of  the 

Lord" 

IV.  Songs  in  the  Night   . 

V.     Can  Thine  Heart  Endure? 
VI.     "The  Sky  Not  the  Grave  Is 
Our  Goal "       .       .       .       . 
VII.     "  Will  He  Find  Faith  on  the 

Earth  ? " 

VIIL    Life's  True  View-Point    . 

IX.     Standing  on  the  Other  Side  . 

X.     "  He  Would  Not  for  a  While  " 

XI.     Strength  Through  Sorrow     . 

XII.     Other  Refuge  Have  I  None    . 

XIII.  "  Wearied  in  the  Greatness  of 

the  Way  "         .... 

XIV.  The  Withering  Grass  and  the 

Abiding  Word    .... 
XV.     To  Flee  or  to  Fight? 
XVI.     Where  Your  Treasure  Is  . 
XVII.     Not  to  Destroy,  but  to  Fulfil 
XVIII.     The  Long  View  of  Life   . 
XIX.    Where,  Grave,  Thy  Victory?  . 


9 

17 

25 
33 
41 

48 

57 
65 
72 
80 
88 
96 

104 

112 
120 
129 
138 
I4S 
IS4 


wm^^r^^'=w  i'"'^*!w^wKi^ 


THROUGH  CONCERN  TO  CONFIDENCE 

"He  knowth  the  way  that  I  take."— Job  xxiii;  lo. 

IT  is  the  depression  of  many  to-day  that  they 
cannot  see  God  in  the  things  which  are  hap- 
pening in  the  world.  There  seem  to  be  few 
clear  signs  of  His  presence  amid  the  downfall  of 
much  that  has  be°n  long  cherished.  The  over- 
whelming events  which  are  convulsing  the  nations 
are  difficult  of  identification  with  the  Love  in 
which  they  have  been  taught  to  confide.  Perplexed 
and  mystified,  they  are  asking:  "  Where  is  God? 
What  is  He  doing?  Why  does  He  seem  inactive? 
And  wherefore  His  silence?  "  It  is  part  of  their 
sonship  that  the  world  without  Him  is  no  home 
for  their  souls.  If  through  the  mists  and  half- 
lights  of  sorrow  and  anxiety  He  cannot  be  dis- 
cerned, then  there  is  nothing  left  in  life  for  them. 
If  He  has  failed,  they  are  put  to  silence. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  scale  of  human  suffer- 
ing more  poignant  than  perplexity  concerning 
those  we  love.  Any  suggestion  of  unfaithfulness 
or  unworthiness  which  conflicts  with  our  concep- 
tion of  their  character  causes  acutest  pain.  And 
this  is  the  anguish  of  many  a  true-hearted  believer 
to-day.  God  seems  to  be  declaring  Himself  as 
9 


-t-'_jXlx'T'    A.    i=T,'^ 


10         THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

somewhat  other  than  they  have  hitherto  conceived 
Him.  The  moral  confusion  which  is  permrtted 
m  the  world  appears  successfully  to  disprove  either 
His  sovereignty  or  His  beneficence— or  both. 
Wickedness  wears  the  garments  of  triumph. 
Right  is  bound  to  the  scafToid  while  wrong  mounts 
the  throne.  While  deeper  far  than  an)  per- 
sonal sorrow  caused  by  bereavement  or  loss  is 
the  unutterable  pain  of  being  unable  to  reconcile 
current  facts  with  eternal  Truth.  And  this  pain 
is  made  still  more  acute  by  the  knowledge  that 
the  world  is,  to  a  large  extent,  blaming  God  for 
the  ghastly  horrors  of  war  in  terms  which  do  not 
even  affect  reverence  or  respect. 

To  all  who  are  suffering  thus— and  they  ar« 
not  a  few— the  experience  oi  Job  is  as  a  ray  of 
light  which  may  enable  them  to  t  d  the  present 
pathway  of  darkness  with  courage  and  loyalty. 
For  in  circumstances  strangely  akin  to  these  pres- 
ent ones  he  said :  "Behold,  I  go  forward,  but  He 
is  not  there;  and  backward,  but  I  cannot  perceive 
Him:  Cn  the  left  hand,  where  He  doth  work,  but 
I  cannot  behold  Him:  He  hideth  Himself  on  the 
right  hand,  that  I  cannot  see  Him:  But  He  know- 
eth  the  way  that  I  take:  when  He  hath  tried  me, 
I  shall  come  forth  as  gold." 


It  sometimes  happens  that  doubts  which  are  ex- 
pressed about  God's  character  and  consistency  are 
unworthy  of  notice,  just  because  they  are  light- 


THROUGH  CONCERN 


H 


hearted.  They  are  not  pitched  upon  any  high  note 
of  pain,  and  hence  are  not  even  moral.  For  it  is 
only  when  the  mere  thought  of  anything  deroga- 
tory to  Him  causes  keenest  grief,  that  the  challenge 
of  perplexed  hearts  may  be  rightly  launched  upon 
Heaven.  It  is  such  that  we  have  in  view  now. 
We  all  admit  that  there  are  indeed  mystifying 
providences  in  these  days.  Truly  these  are  such 
days  as  Christ  foretold  when  he  said :  "  A  little 
while  and  ye  shall  not  see  Me."  But  let  us  re- 
member how  in  that  same  hour  He  gave  to  His 
followers  the  fullest  assurance  that  He  should  yet 
be  at  work  on  every  hand,  around,  within,  and 
through  them.  For  this  remembrance  wi'l  save 
us  from  despair,  even  though  it  tests  our  faith  to 
the  uttermost. 

It  is  a  great  thing  when,  as  with  Job,  faith 
though  mystified  refuses  to  be  eclipsed.  That  man 
alone  is  safe  who  holds  firm  to  the  belief  that  Goc' 
is  working,  although  he  may  not  be  able  to  see  an 
great  evidence  of  His  energy.  He  finds  within 
himself  that  which  demands  the  continued  sup- 
port of  His  grace;  and  where  reason  fails,  in- 
stinct urges  him  to  maintained  trust.  If  the 
heart  is  allowed  to  dictate  terms,  it  always 
triumphs  over  the  eye.  Faith — even  sorely-tested 
faith — is  the  victory  which  overcomes  a  turbulent 
world.  Men  may  live  without  the  full  .explanation 
of  earthly  things,  but  they  cannot  live  without 
the  inspiration  of  Heavenly  aids.  It  is  quite  po-  • 
sible  to  go  on  walking  in  darkness  in  regard  to  the 


liRi':  ^^^?mMma^¥3^ 


12         THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

reason  for  things  which  are  happening  about  us, 
waiting  for  the  Day  which  shall  declare  them. 
But  it  is  not  possible  to  live  without  the  love  of 
the  Father,  the  grace  of  the  Son,  and  the  fellow- 
ship of  the  Spirit.  And  thank  God!  it  is  not 
necessary.  Whatever  vision  may  be  granted 
therein — "as  through  a  glass  darkly" — satisfies, 
not  becarse  it  is  final,  but  because  it  is  prophetic 
of  full  and  complete  revelation.  To  travellers  in 
a  tunnel  the  light  is  dim,  the  air  is  not  good,  and 
the  sense  of  progress  is  only  maintained  by  in- 
convenience suffered.  But  the  sun  is  shining  with- 
out, and  they  journey  toward  it.  And  this  is  the 
supporting  consciousness  of  all  who  refuse  to 
relinquish  their  behef  in  God's  goodness  at  the 
call  of  war's  black  horrors.  "He  knowcth  the 
way  that  I  take,"  says  the  steadfast  believer,  "  and 
because  He  knows  '  /  shall  come  forth  as  gold ' 
— refined  in  the  fire,  and  minted  as  the  currency 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  to  supply  the  need  of  the 
impoverished,  and  to  add  to  the  resources  of  God 
in  this  bankrupt  world." 


If  God's  discipline  is  to  be  rightly  interpreted 
and  its  lessons  learned,  an  attitude  of  resigna- 
tion is  insufficient.  Reason  also  must  bt  exercised. 
"  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy 
mind."  He  Who  gave  us  intelligence  is  never 
glorified  by  the  disuse  of  His  gift.  And  it  is  a 
true  instinct  which  endeavours  to  discover  God 


THROUGH  CONCERN 


IS 


in  the  darkness  of  these  days.  In  all  the  circum- 
stances of  the  present  we  must  not  fear  to  bring 
His  sovereignty  to  the  test  of  His  love.  We  must 
measure  His  permissive  decrees  of  conflict  and 
calamity, — and  of  death  also, — by  His  declared 
purposes  of  good  toward  the  world,  that  is  by 
His  purpose  of  its  salvation  by  Christ.  Faith 
is  only  true  to  itself  when  it  asks:  "Can  these 
things  fulfil  moral  ends  ?  Can  they  lead  to  God's 
glory?  Can  He  be  known  of  men  through 
happenings  so  perverse  and  contradictory?  "  And 
it  is  this  child-like  trust  which  can  and  must  be 
sustained  if  our  quest  is  to  be  saved  from  queru- 
lousness,  and  our  hearts  from  the  chill  of  despair. 
Two  friends  were  one  day  walking  in  the  fields, 
talking  as  they  walked  of  the  inscrutable  mystery 
of  God's  doings.  One  of  them,  a  man  of  some 
intellectual  force,  whose  heart  however  had  never 
yet  been  opened  to  the  Divine  light,  said  petulantly; 
"  How  can  a  man  of  finite  mind  know  God  ?  How 
can  he  discern  what  God  is  doing?  How  can  he 
understand  God's  will  ? "  And  pointing  con- 
temptuously to  an  anthill  where  thousands  of  in- 
sects were  busy  at  their  toil,  he  asked :  "  How  can 
those  ants  understand  what  is  in  my  mind  ?  "  Like 
a  flash  the  answer  came :  "  There  is  only  one  way 
— by  you  becoming  an  ant  and  declaring  it  to 
them  I  "  And  in  that  answer  lies  everything  that 
we  need  for  the  enlightenment  of  our  minds, 
and  the  establishment  of  our  hearts.  For  God 
became  man  in  the   Person  of   His   Son,   that 


-1  1!l»,l-* 


•yf- 


1*         THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

we  might  have  this  calm,  unshaken  confidence 
in  Him  which  was  anticipated  by  the  Patriarch. 
Since  He  has  lived  amongst  us,  we  have  learned 
that  God's  providence  never  violate:;  His  Nature. 
He  does  what  He  does  because  He  is  what  He 
is.  Christ-taught  men  are  able  to  affirm  in  the 
face  of  every  threatening  mystery  and  frowning 
calamity:  "He  knoweth,"  and  to  rest  satisfied 
in  the  moral  unity  of  things  declared  and  un- 
explained. 


It  is  well  for  our  troubled  hearts  to  bear  in 
mind  the  unvarying  process  of  this  assurance. 
For  by  their  personal  significance  God's  ways 
are  best  interpreted.  In  our  own  lives  we  must 
first  and  always  find  proof  of  His  nature.  Job 
discovered  in  his  search  for  God  what  we  too  have 
to  learn — that  what  is  really  happening  in  the 
darkness  is  not  our  judgment  of  Him  but  His 
judgment  of  us.  We  may  not  know  the  way  He 
takes,  but  He  always  knows  the  way  that  we  take. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  in  these  days  we  are  all  living 
a  great  deal  too  much  in  the  newspapers,  and 
upon  the  thoughts  of  journalists  who  know  little 
more  of  the  general  situation  than  the  common 
man,  and  less  indeed  than  the  humblest  believer 
in  God.  We  are  all  thinking  of  the  Balkans,  the 
Dardanelles,  the  Eastern  and  Western  Fronts  of 
the  War.  For  we  cannot  be  blind  to  the  great 
occurrences  there,  and  must  not  be  uninterested. 


THROUGH  CONCERN  15 

But  we  need  to  live  much  more  in  the  secret  place 
of  the  Most  High,  letting  the  light  of  the  Sanctu- 
ary shine  in  upon  our  own  lives.  We  need  n^ore 
than  anything  else  just  now  to  assure  our  hearts 
before  Him  that  the  way  we  are  personally  taking 
is  the  way  of  His  approval.  Or  we  may  lose  our- 
selves entirely. 

In  his  dark  days  Job's  respect  for  the  moral 
law  never  weakened.  Despite  his  perplexities,  he 
held  to  the  way  of  God's  commandments.  It  is 
as  though  he  said :  "  I  may  not  know  vhat  God 
is  doing,  but  I  do  know  what  He  has  conimai  ded. 
I  cannot  see  what  are  His  purposes  in  the  world, 
but  of  this  I  am  certain:  He  has  bound  me  by  a 
law  of  righteousness,  and  my  every  energy  must 
be  directed  towar-l  walking  in  this  pathway.  '  He 
knoweth  the  way  that  I  take'  because  it  is  His 
way,  and  because  in  spite  of  my  feebleness  I  am 
doing  my  best  to  live  as  one  who  has  recognized 
the  perfection  of  the  will  of  the  Lord."  And  we 
too,  when  we  wait  for  Him  in  the  way  of  His 
commandments,  shall  not  wait  in  vain.  If,  how- 
ever, we  take  to  the  ways  of  worldliness,  frivolity, 
and  moral  indifference,  we  shall  ask  without 
answer  for  explanation  of  the  overwhelming 
events  which  encircle  and  affright  us. 

With  every  increase  of  moral  earnestness  com.es 
the  conviction  that  life  needs  to  be  brought  into 
testing  and  cleansing  fires  ere  its  Divinely- 
ordered  purpose  can  be  fulfilled.  And  the 
consciousness  that  such  refinement  is  taking  place. 


16         THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

however    slowly,    affords    a    key    to    the    right 
understanding   of   Gods   greater   doings    in   the 
life  of  the  Nation  and  of  the  \/orId.     When  we 
for  instance,  find  ourselves  in  these  days  more 
prayerful  and  less  earthbound,  more  desirous  of 
eternal  good  and  less  devoted  to  temporal  things 
more  anxious  for  God's  glory  and  less  for  our 
own  mterests,  we  are  able  to  comprehend  some- 
thmg  of  what  is  being  done  on  a  grand  scale 
through  the  stress  and  storm  of  war.     And  we 
find  no  difficulty  in  reconciling  its  upheavals  and 
sorrows   with   the   love   of   God-the   God   and 
father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.    We  deduce  t^- 
purifymg  and  enriching  of  the  Nation  from  the 
pamful  remakmg  of  our  own  lives.    And  though 
much  of  our  perplexity  and  many  of  our  queries 
still  remain  unanswered,  we  are  able  confidently  to 
say  "  God  is  our  refuge  and  strength.    Therefore 
will  not  we  fear,  though  the  earth  be  removed  " 

This  IS  the  rest  that  remaineth  in  these  days 
for  all  His  children. 


:i.dir^f4„'"»if'?!'^ 


II 

LIFE'S   SURE   GUIDANCE 

"  Tht  Lord  alont  did  lead  Aim."— Deuieronomv  xxxii :  tx 

WHEN   events    seem   entirely    to  conflict 
with  our  well-being,  aa  well  as  with  the 
as<<urances  of   God's   Word,   it   is   not 
easy  to  maintain  our  earlier  conceptions  of  His 
power  and  goodness.     And  suck  a  time  is  upon 
us  now.     The  terrible  upheaval  of  the   world's 
peace  has  its  counterpart  and  echo  in  almost  every 
life.    Questions  which  men  who  have  never  made 
any  claim  to  be  regarded  as  Christians  are  yet 
asking— as  to  where  God  is,  and  what  I ;  >  is  doing 
in  this  day  of  strife— are  ako  ir  the  hearts  of 
many  who  have  long  sought  to  be  His  servants.    Is 
He  in  possession  of  the  reins  of  government,  or 
have  they  slipped  from  His  hands  only  to  be  taken 
up  by  the  great  Adversary?    Can  He  be  identified 
in  any  way  with  th.e  darkened  hopes  and  thwarted 
purposes  alike  of  nations  and  individuals?    Is  not 
some  malign  influence  at  work,  stronger  than  the 
force  we  have  always  thought  of  as  Eternal  Good- 
ness?   Have  we  been  mistaken  in  our  confidence, 
and  lost  our  way  in  the  amazing  intricacies  of  the 
path  of  life  as  it  has  opened  before  us  of  late? 
To  all  who  are  so  disturbed — and   they  are 
17 


1 '' ' 


18         THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

many — the  interpretation  given  to  the  fluctuating 
fortunes  and  strangely  varied  course  of  the 
Israelitish  nation  is  of  reassuring  power.  In  his 
resume  of  their  pilgrimage  Moses  thus  summarizes 
forty  years'  wandering  in  the  wilderness :  "  The 
Lord  alone  did  lead  him,  and  there  was  no  strange 
god  with  him."  Such  words  are  surprising  in 
view  of  the  struggles  of  those  years,  the  days  of 
weariness  and  nights  of  anxiety,  the  stern  conflicts 
with  foes  infinitely  stronger  than  themselves,  and 
the  familiarity  with  sin  and  death  into  which  they 
were  ever  and  anon  brought.  True,  they  were 
supported  with  manna  from  above ;  but  there  were 
times  when  they  thirsted  in  the  cruel  heat  of  the 
desert.  And  as  though  in  denial  of  all  their  early 
hopes,  the  pathway  along  which  they  followed  the 
Pillar  of  Cloud  and  Fire  was  strewn  with  graves. 
Doubtless  Egyptian  superstition  regarding  op- 
posing deities  survived  among  them  in  some 
measure.  The  beneficent  providences  of  life  they 
could  understand  as  coming  from  the  God  of 
goodness;  but  the  evil  and  unkindly  ones  seemed 
to  come  from  His  rival.  Sometimes  one  appeared 
to  be  in  the  ascendency;  while  at  other  times  his 
purpose  was  evidently  frustrated  by  the  force  of 
the  other.  But  Moses  had  never  been  in  doubt  as 
to  God's  sovereignty  and  constancy.  Now  as  they 
are  about  to  enter  the  Land  of  Promise,  full  of 
inevitable  conflict  with  new  foes,  he  speaks  this 
word  to  gird  the  people  to  new  courage.  With  the 
certainty  that  God  alone  has  been  leading  them 


LIFE'S  SURE   GUIDANCE  19 

in  all  the  strange  vicissitudes  of  those  past  years 

hey  may  look  the  future  in  the  face  without  anv 

fear,  and  can  meet  its  difficuhies  with  herr°s  elate 

I 

wittsl"  To'^h'  '''■  ('■"  "  "^^"  '«^t  ^-ithout 
vvitness.     To  those  who  look  to  Him  there  is 

Ste^e'r  '""  f  ^  ^""  °'  RighteousL 
to  lighten  the  gloom.    And  this  day  is  no  evr^n 
tion.    That  the  outlook  is  dark  none    an  afrTctfo 
deny^    Were  it  not  that  we  still  believe  In  God 
we  should  say  it  is  almost  hopeless.     But  such  a 
word  as  this  strengthens  us  in  the  confidence  that 
a^l  our  present  sufferings  are  merely  parts  of  F 
ways    segments  of  the  wide  circk  of  Grace  in 
which  His  world  is  surrounded.     For  this  'nter 

can  h.  *"  "'\&°^'^'-"'"ent  has  not  been,  nor  ever 
can  be,  finally  thwarted  in  any  respect.     The  Ad 
versary  may  originate  strife  and  -cindle  opposition 

ra'v'se"  rn  1"'  *™*  ^  '"' ""'  """«'  ^^  ^  ^^  "" 
traverse  God  s  permissive  will.     There  is  a  .„ 

premacy  of  grace  in  all  life's  guidance^,  both  fo" 

and  for  that  Nation  which  in  its  dealings  with 
other  races  has  sought  to  be  true  to  princfpleJof 
honour,  chiyalry.  and  uprightness.  "^Herein  vve 
may  encourage  ourselves. 

For  if  the  Lord  alone  is  leading  at  this  time 
then  we  can  assure  our  hearts  that  moral  purpoTes' 
are  being  silently  achieved  despite  seeming^co^ 


J 


20 


THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 


tradictions.  The  tight  grip  of  Divine  love  is  not 
relaxed  by  reason  of  the  fluctuating  faith  of  His 
people.  It  will  not  let  them  go,  even  when  in  their 
fearfulness  they  are  almost  determined  to  abandon 
His  way.  Under  its  steadying  control  they  are 
enabled  to  trudge  on  through  darkness  until  dawn 
breaks.  Then  in  the  full  light  of  day  they  shall 
see  that  a  benign  Fatherhood  and  not  a  blind  fate 
has  been  the  true  explanation  of  their  dark  hours. 
11  these  things  are  not  so,  and  if  through  the  un- 
toward happenings  of  the  present  God  is  not  lead- 
ing His  people  on  toward  their  highest  good,  we 
must  face  the  pitiless  alternative.  We  must  sur- 
render entirely  that  idea  of  an  all-wise  and  all- 
loving  God  which  has  been  the  foundation  of  our 
lives  hitherto,  and  must  readjust  our  conceptions 
of  His  Evangel  to  hard  facts  which  cannot  be 
controverted. 

It  would  seem  as  though  the  entire  record  of  the 
Holy  Word  has  been  arranged  with  a  view  to  the 
preservation  of  the  faith  which  it  creates  in  this 
very  respect.  That  "  the  Lord  alone  did  lead 
him  "  is  written  large  in  the  history  of  patriarch 
and  prophet,  who  only  reached  their  eminence  of 
influence  through  cloud  and  conflict.  Joseph  and 
Elijah,  Gideon  and  Jeremiah,  David  and  Hosea, 
are  all  cases  in  point.  But  the  supreme  illustration 
is  in  the  life  of  the  Lord  Christ.  Did  it  not  seem 
as  though  some  strange  and  hostile  deity  was  in 
control  of  the  human  opposition  and  hatred  by 
which  His  beneficent  revelation  of  God  was  met? 


LIFE'S   SURE   GUIDANCE  21 

And  when  He  was  hurried  to  the  death  of  a  male- 
facor  almost  before  His  work  was  apparently 
well  begun  might  it  not  appear  that  the  Enemy 
had  triumphed?  Yet  no  such  thought  ever  dis- 
turbed His  confidence,  or  deflected  His  couraee. 
I  lay  down  My  life  .  .  .  This  commandment 
have  I  recetved  of  My  Father  "  is  His  triumphant 
.nterpretation  of  that  darkest  experience  of  all 
I  here  was  no  strange  god  with  Him.  It  was  be- 
cause the  Lord  alone  led  Him  that  He  came  to 
the  sorrows  of  Gethsemane,  of  the  Pr^torium, 
and  of  Calvary. 


That  we  are  to  expect  disturbing  providences  in 
hves  which  endeavour  to  follow  Heavenly  guid- 
ance IS  to  be  inferred  from  the  pictorial  representa- 
tion of  His  ways  which  this  word  also  affords 

As  an  eagle  stirreth  up  her  ucst,  nuttereth  over 
her  young,  spreadeth  abroad  her  wings,  taketh 
them,  bearcth  them  on  her  wings:  so  the  Lord 
alone  dtd  lead  him."  The  way  of  the  ;agle  with 
her  young  is  well  known.  By  disturbing  the  corn- 
tort  of  the  nest,  and  even  by  violently  pushine 
them  out  into  the  unkindly  air  which  thev  must 
conquer  the  eaglets  are  taught  to  fly.  Confidence 
IS  developed  by  the  supporting  nearness  of  the 
mother-bird;  and  what  at  first  appears  rough  treat- 
ment IS,  m  reality,  effective  kindness. 

In  similar  manner  God  deals  with  His  children 
for  their  good.    He  stirs  the  nest,  it  may  be  by 


22 


THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 


taking  away  health,  or  fortune,  or  friends.  The 
comforts  of  life  give  place  almost  without  warning 
to  unspeakable  sorrows,  and  the  old  order  is  no 
longer  possible  to  us.  Or,  the  strange  creation  of 
inner  dissatisfaction  of  spirit  puts  us  out  of  har- 
mony with  our  surrounding.  Or,  the  destruction 
of  cherished  plans  makes  necessary  the  entire 
rebuilding  of  life.  Under  any  or  all  of  such  ex- 
periences we  are  apt  to  ch'' f e.  They  seem  so  arbi 
trary  and  uncalled-for  that  we  only  accept  them 
under  compulsion,  and  so  lose  their  value.  Did 
we  but  realize  that  God  orders  life  thus  to  provoke 
us  to  moral  action,  and  to  evoke  dormant  qualities 
whose  exercise  shall  enrich  and  enlarge  us  beyond 
thought,  how  gratefully  should  we  look  upon  un- 
kindliest  things!  Comfort  and  ease  are  never  in 
themselves  a  worthy  aim  on  the  part  of  those  who 
claim  fellowship  with  the  Divine.  Contentment 
with  things  as  they  are,  is  at  all  times  fatal  to  true 
progress.  Timidity  is  apt  to  paralyze  energy,  until 
the  fearful  soul  becomes  incapable  of  response  to 
the  high  claims  of  duty.  To  settle  down  in  an 
undisturbed  nest  only  means  a  brood  of  weaklings, 
which  soon  become  the  victims  of  atrophy  and 
death.  How  kind  then  are  the  disturbing  provi- 
dences of  God  which  arouse  us  to  higher  things! 
Love's  disguises  do  not  change  its  nature. 

As  the  aim  of  the  eagle  is  to  launch  her  young 
into  the  element  for  which  they  are  fitted,  so  God 
is  ever  seeking  to  launch  us  into  that  world  for 
which  we  have  been  created,  and  in  which  alone 


LIFE'S   SURE   GUIDANCE  23 

new  powers  are  acquired  by  new  knowledge  of 
Him.    For  we  do  not  really  know  Him  until  our 
nests  are  disturbed,  and  we  feel  ourselves  alone 
and  unsupported.     It  is  then  we  come  to  realize 
how  He  can  bear  us  up  in  trial  and  trouble.    Prone 
as  we  are  to  cling  to  earth  although  called  to 
Heaven,  we  learn  then  how  real  is  His  imparted 
power  for  upward  flight.     For  just  as  the  eagle 
bears    her    tired    young    upon    her    outstretched 
pinions,  so  does  He  support  the  distressed  soul- 
until  we  come  to  recognize  that  it  was  for  this 
very  thing  that  He  allowed  the  calamity  to  come 
into  our  lives.      Had   the  nest   never   been   dis- 
turbed we  had  never  known  Him  to  be  the  God  of 
rll  grace,  and  had  never  realized  the  true  purpose 
of  our  being.     With  the  discovery  that  it  is  He 
who  has  led  us  unerringly  through  everything  of 
anxiety  and  pain  and  loss,  we  become  grateful  for 
the  resented  thing  that  has  brought  us  into  the 
Life  that  IS  Life  indeed.    Then,  unlike  the  eagle  in 
this,  as  we  soar  we  sing.     Faith  becomes  vocal, 
and  Its  song  is  of  the  tender  mercies  of  God  for 
ever. 


ni 
One  day  our  nest  is  going  to  be  finally 
distu.  jed  with  that  disturbance  which  men 
call  death.  And  what  then?  Surely  in  that 
day  when  we  most  need  Him  God  will  not 
be  untrue  to  Himself.  As  we  have  found  Him 
in   all    the   experiences    of    the    present    which, 


24 


THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 


terrible  though  they  are,  will  seem  trivial  in  con- 
trast with  the  last  enemy  whose  dread  we  must 
face  alone,  so  shall  we  find  Him  then.  We  shall 
be  borne  upon  His  pi  jtecting  wings,  and  with 
"  sun,  moon,  and  stars  forgot  "  shall  mount  into 
the  presence  of  His  glory,  there  to  find  the  life  for 
which  this  has  been  but  a  preparation.  And  even 
that  unspeakable  experience  of  dying  from  which 
all  men  instinctively  shrink,  shall  add  something  to 
character — and  hence  to  our  fitness  for  eternal 
service — which  could  not  be  otherwise  acquired. 
The  stamp  of  God's  leadership  shall  be  upon  it, 
as  upon  all  dark  things.  And  sorrow  and  sigh- 
ing shall  flee  away,  as  in  the  warmth  and  glow 
of  Home  we  are  able  to  discern  far  more  clearly 
than  we  can  always  do  now,  that  the  Lord  alone 
hath  led  us  every  step  of  the  way,  and  that  no 
strange  god  has  had  any  hand  in  the  bringing  of 
His  sons  to  glory. 


Ill 

"  PREPARE  YE  THE  WAY  OF  THE  LORD  " 

•■The  voice  of  one  crying  i.,  the  wilden,ess."-UMAn  xl:}. 

THE  great  events  of  today  are  investing  life 
with  a  degree  of  seriousness  to  which  we 
have  long  been  strangers.    As  the  fortunes 
of  war  vary,  and  the  cost  of  even  temporary  vic- 
tories IS  realized  m  its  immensitv,  we  are  all  begin- 
ning to  understand   the  magnitude  of  the  duty 
which  confronts  us,  the  seriousness  of  its  issue 
and  the  extreme  gravity  of  the  situation.     While 
every   available    resource    is    being    pressed    into 
service,  there  is  nevertheless  a  widespread  uneasy 
apprehension  that  all  is  not  well  with  us     It  r^ 
veals  Itself  in  the  secular  Press,  as  in  the  speech 
of  a    serious-minded  men.    Even  those  who  are 
usually  more  or   less   indifferent   to  moral   con- 
siderations are  beginning  to  realize  that  somehow 
we  seem  to  have  "  slipped  a  cog,"  and  that  the  real 
lack  of  the  hour  is  of  a  moral  awakening  and  re- 
generation. 

Never  was  the  message  of  the  great  Evangelical 
Prophet,  who  spoke  to  the  heart  of  a  nation  in 
distress,  bidding  them  "Prepare  the  way  of  the 
l-ord.  more  apposite  than  in  our  present  circum- 
stances.   It  was  upon  a  people  exiled  and  down- 

35 


26         THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

cast,  whose  energies  might  well  have  been  at  low 
ebb,  that  this  high  task  was  imposed.  There  was 
not  only  objective  result  to  be  achieved,  but  sub- 
jective experience  to  be  gained  also  by  the  con- 
centration of  every  power  on  the  business  of 
moral  repair.  God  was  ready  to  help  them  when 
they  were  ready  for  Him.  But  Israel  could  only 
realize  her  true  destiny  and  fulfil  her  appointed 
mission  as  she  realized  His  presence  and  co-opera- 
tion. Her  greatest  responsibility  was  hence  to 
prepare  His  way. 


This  is,  above  all  things,  the  call  to  which  our 
Nation  must  at  once  give  heed.  W  no  is  not  aware 
that  the  task  to  which  we  have  put  our  hands — and 
be  it  said,  from  which  we  could  not  have  excused 
ourselves,  unless  content  to  be  covered  with  eternal 
dishonour — is  infinitely  greater  than  was  at  fir.<;l 
thought?  Who  is  not  conscious  that  the  alterna- 
tive issues  are  far  more  serious  than  have  ever 
been  presented  to  mankind  ?  Who  has  not  come  to 
see  that  the  situation,  as  it  exists  today,  is  graver 
than  any  in  which  our  Nation  in  all  the  years 
of  her  long  history  has  ever  found  herself  ?  There 
is  a  general  expectation  and  confidence  of  victory 
among  us,  based  upon  the  growing  strength  of 
our  armies,  the  amazing  organization  of  our  na- 
tional possessions,  and  the  magnificent  courage  of 
our  men.  And  all  this  is  as  it  should  be.  Yet  it 
is  certain  that  all  such  confidence  of  victory  is 


13 


"  THE  WAY  OF  THE  LORD  "  27 

doomed  to  utter  disappointment  unless  God's 
power  IS  manifested  on  our  belialf.  Until  as  a 
Nation  we  set  ourselves  to  •'  Prepare  the  way  of 
the  Lord,"  our  foes  will  never  be  overthrown. 
Britain's  national  mission  in  the  world  will  not 
be  accomplished  until  Britain's  soul  is  recovered 
Our  supreme  need  is  neither  of  men  »  or  muni- 
tions, but  of  a  return  to  God  by  the  hlling-up  of 
valleys,  the  levelling  of  mountains,  and  the 
straightening  of  crooked  things  in  our  common 
moral  life. 

Can  it  be  maintained,  with  any  degree  of  truth, 
that  we  have  even  begun  thus  to  prepare  the  way 
of  the  Lord  ?  Five-sevenths  of  the  population  is 
said  to  be  professedly  Christian;  and  yet  there  has 
not  been  any  serious  attempt  on  the  part  of  any- 
thing like  that  proportion  of  our  people  to  renew 
the  spiritual  allegiance  we  profess.  That  small 
groups  of  believers  here  and  there  have  given 
themselves  to  prayer  from  the  beginning,  we  are 
aware.  But  they  are  in  no  sense  representative  of 
the  whole  Nation. 

Can  it  be  suggested  that  our  policies  are  con- 
ceived in  the  fear  of  God?  Have  we  made  any 
really  earnest  effort  to  cleanse  our  land  from  the 
foul  blots  which  mar  the  life  of  town  and  village 
alike?  Is  it  not  rather  to  our  shame  that  when 
an  opportunity— the  like  of  which  will  probably 
never  recur— presented  itself  for  following  the 
courageous  lead  of  our  Allies  in  the  matter  of 
freeing  the  land  from  the  domination  and  blight 


28         THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

of  the  brewer  and  the  distiller,  we  utterly  failed? 
And  is  it  not  a  thing  to  be  deplored  that  not  one 
of  our  first  rank  statesmen  has  made  any  public 
acknowledgment  of  our  need  of  God's  help  in  this 
time  of  trial  and  crisis?  Do  not  these  things  go  to 
show  that  we  have  not  yet  begun  to  tread  the  one 
sure  path  to  victory  ?  Public-houses  filled  to  over- 
flowing with  both  men  and  women,  music-halls  and 
theatres  thronged  nightly,  the  Sabbath  still  de- 
voted by  large  numbers  to  pleasure-seeking  and 
frivolity,  are  not  the  signs  of  a  nation  which  is 
fitting  herself  to  receive  Divine  help  in  her  strug- 
gle against  strong  foes.  And  yet  we  go  on  fancy- 
ing that  we  must  win! 

All  this  is  much  more  serious  if  we  take  the 
view — which  is  the  right  one— that  this  war  is 
itself  a  great  preparation  of  "  the  way  of  the 
Lord  " ;  and  that  these  stupendous  events  are  the 
prelude  to  the  end  of  this  D>,pensation.  For 
"  wars  and  rumours  of  wars  "ire  only  preliminary 
to  the  coming  of  the  King  in  His  glory;  and  out 
of  this  unspeakable  welter  of  bloodshed,  the  King- 
dorn  of  Peace,  which  has  never  yet  been  set  up  save 
in  individual  hearts,  shall  rise.  This,  indeed,  is 
part  of  the  consolation  of  God  to  hearts  stricken 
with  sorrow  by  the  loss  of  those  who  have  fallen 
in  battle.  If  there  were  no  spiritual  value  and 
meaning  in  the  sacrifice  of  precious  life;  if  there 
were  to  be  no  other  outcome  of  this  grim  strife 
thari  the  maintenance  of  national  pride,  or  the 
punishment  of  an  aggressive  enemy;  if  there  were 


"THE  WAY  OF  THE  LORD"  29 

no  pathway  of  light  Ijeyond  the  horizon  where  the 
sun  sets  in  blood— then  it  would  indeed  be  im- 
possible to  maintain  faith.  Hut  here  is  the  answer 
lo  the  inevitable  query  of  perplexed  hearts-  "To 
what  purpose  is  this  waste?  "  It  is  to  "  Prepare 
the  way  of  the  Lord  "  that  our  sons  and  brothers 
are  dymg.  How  unutterably  great  then  is  our 
national  responsibility  of  so  preparing  His  way  by 
true  and  practical  repentance,  however  great  the 
cost,  that  their  sacrifice  be  not  in  vain ! 

ir 
Upon  the  Church  of  Christ  rests  the  obligation 
of  leading  the  Nation  in  prayer  and  penitence.   Her 
first  task  is  tn  "  Prepare  the  way  of  the  Lord" 
by  giving  a  moral  lead,  and  declaring  an  unhesitat- 
ing message.    This  is  no  time  f  3r  internal  dissen- 
sion,  or    for   emphasizing   sectarian    separations 
The  Church  which  in  such  a  day  as  this  devotes 
any  part  of  her  strength  to  the  securing  of  en- 
dowments, or  the  establishment  of  privilege    is 
doing  despite  to  the  Spirit  of  Grace.     Whatever 
may  be  lawful  activities  in  davs  of  peace,  her  one 
mission  to-day  is  to  declare  t:-e  Gospel  of  Christ 
in  all  its  promises  and  implicates,  and  to  exert 
such  moral  pressure  upon  the  community  as  shall 
bring  men  to  His  feet.    By  anv  and  every  method 
consistent  with  the  dignity  of  the   Evangel,  the 
Church  must  give  herself  to  this  work.     If  ever 
she  must  believe  her  beliefs  to  the  point  of  de- 
claring them  without  apology  or  timidity,  it  is 


30 


THE  CONFID''NCE  OF  FAITH 


now.  And  when  the  Gospel  is  so  proclaimed  with 
true  passion  it  authenticates  itself.  There  never 
was  a  time  when  entrance  to  the  human  heart  was 
easier  than  just  now.  But  the  Gospel  is  the  only 
master-key. 

Can  it  he  .seriously  contended  that  the  Church 
is  rising  to  her  great  opportunity?  Is  there  evi- 
dence of  anything  like  a  forsaking  of  the  worldli- 
ness  which  has  long  debilitated  her,  or  of  a  return 
to  the  Truth  which  in  untroubled  days  has  been 
so  arrogantly  belittled  by  the  theories  of  many  of 
her  leaders,  and  the  practices  of  many  of  their 
followers?  Are  there  any  signs  of  a  revival  of 
the  prayer-spirit,  of  love  for  souls,  of  Divine 
discontent  with  anything  less  than  spiritual  and 
eternal  results  of  service?  Arc  "  a.e  .  'rks  of  tiiC 
Lord  Jesus "  discernible  in  her  hands  and  feet 
and  side? 

With  shame  of  face  we  must  confess  the 
Church's  sad  lack  of  preparation,  and  hence  of 
fitness  for  these  days.  And  we  are  all  in  our 
measure  responsible  for  her  shortcoming.  Only 
by  honest  facing  of  the  facts,  and  sincere  resolve 
to  cast  up  the  highways,  and  to  make  room  for 
the  Lord  within  His  own  house,  can  the  Church 
justify  her  existence  to-day  in  a  world  full  of 
human  need.  If  this  present  tide  of  opportunity 
is  taken  at  the  flood,  it  will  lead  her  to  fortune 
such  as  she  has  never  known.  Should  it,  however, 
be  missed,  we  believe  that  the  Church  will  be  en- 
gulfed in  the  maelstrom  beneath  which  all  that  is 


"THE  WAY  OF  THE  LORD"         31 

useless  in  every  realm  of  life  will  yet  be  submerKed 
before  this  war  has  reached  its  end. 

HI 

If  the  Xation  and  the  Church  alike  are  to  "  Pre- 
pare the  way  of  the  Lord,"  it  can  oplv  be  as  in- 
dividuals recognize  and   f„ini  their  responsibility 
■n  this  respect.     Our  land  needs  more  than  anv- 
thing  else  a  race  of  men  and  women  who  arc  in- 
dividually living  the  highest  type  of  spiritual  life 
each    e.xertmg   a    God-war.l    influence    up,.n    the 
community.     And  it  is  the  <Iuty  of  us  all  to  see 
to  it  that  nothing  with  which  we  are  pers.  -illy 
able  to  deal  shall  be  allowed   to  hinder  the  con    ,g 
of  the  Lord  in  power  to  our  souls.     For  only  so 
can  we  he  made  efficient  in  life  ami  efTcctive  in 
witness.     Nothing  hut  !Ii.,  Indwelling  control  can 
ensure  unquenched  hope,  maintain  unfailing  in- 
spiration, inspire  undimmed  faith,  and  create  un- 
sullied holiness.     And   surely  the  unprecedented 
circumstances  of  the  hour  put  a  new  emphasis 
upon  His  desire  to  enter  thus  into  closest  union 
with  His  people.     With  this  note  the  Evangel 
throbs.  '^ 

There  rests,  then,  upon  each  one  of  us  the 
obligation  of  courageously  facing  the  measure  of 
our  own  contribution  to  this  altogether  necessary 
task  of  preparing  the  way  of  the  Lord.  Are  we 
personally  fit  to  have  fellowship  with  Him  ?  V  > 
of  the  thoughts  of  our  hearts?  What  of  the  spirit 
of  our  homes?     What  of  the  ordering  of  our 


32         THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

business?  What  of  the  habits  of  our  lives?  What 
of  the  character  and  quality  of  our  interests?  Are 
these  such  as  unite  in  giving  Him  that  free  invita- 
tion to  "  make  our  hearts  His  dwelling-place,"  to 
which  He  never  fails  to  respond? 

Well  may  we  say  under  such  searching  test: — 
"  Oh,  how  can  I  whose  native  sphere 
Is  dark,  whose  mind  is  dim, 
Before  the  Ineffable  appear. 
And  on  my  naked  spirit  bear 
The  uncreated  beam  ?  " 
And  to  our  troubled  hearts  in  their  conviction 
of   unfitness   and   unreadiness   comes  the   Divine 
assurance  that — 

"  There  is  a  way  for  man  to  rise 
To  that  sublime  abode : 
An  Offerine:  and  a  Sacrifice, 
A  Holy  Spirit's  energies, 
An  Advocate  with  God." 
By  His  grace,  then,  and  for  His  glory,  let  us 
each  prepare  His  way,  by  renouncing  all  that  the 
flashlight  of  His  Word  condemns,  by  reconstruct- 
ing every  relationship  which  is  false  to  His  govern- 
ment, and  by  resolutely  setting  ourselves  to  obey 
the  dictates  of   His  will.     And   He  shall  assert 
Himself  in  every  life  thus  prepared.    In  this  way, 
and  in  this  way  alone,  can  we  hope  to  see  the 
sanctification  of  the  Church,  and  the  salvation  of 
the  Nation.    Surely  the  unprecedented  need  of  the 
hour  forbids  all  trifling. 


i 


IV 
SONGS    IN    THE    NIGHT 

"In  the  night  Hi,  song  shall  be  with  «f. "-Psalm  xlii:8. 

IF  ever  Christ's  followers  ought  to  wear  the 
garment  of  praise  it  is  when  all  men  are  op- 
pressed  with  a  spirit  of  heaviness  from  which 
they  find  .t  difficult  to  escape.  Only  it  must  bear 
no  hkeness  to  the  artificial  and  pathetic  merriment 
with  vvhich  fools  are  still  found  trying  to  beguile 
the  tedium  of  this  present  long-drawn-out  ordeal. 
It  must  be  woven  on  looms  of  faith  set  up  in  the 
Secret  Place  of  the  Most  High.  And  it  must  be 
worn  naturally. 

I 
It  was  at  a  dark  time  in  Israel's  history  that  the 
Psalmist  declared-"  f«  the  night  His  song  shall 
be  With  me."    Despite  the  ascendency  of  his  foes 
and  the  unkindness  of  their  reproaches,  he  is  un- 
moved.    All  things  around  him  are  changing— 
but  God.     He  is  aware  that  yet  darker  days  and 
nights  may  be  before  him.     He  has  seen  enough 
of  life  to  know  that  it  repeats  itself,  and  that  one 
day    IS    singularly    like    another    in    its    uncer- 
tainty.    But  he  is  determined  that  however  dark 
may  be  the  night  through  which  he  must  live 
ere  the  light  of  Eternal  Morning  breaks,  he  will 
still  smg.    He  cannot  give  up  his  hope,  because  he 

oo 


34 


THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 


will  not  give  up  his  faith.  The  springs  of  his  joy 
run  as  fresh  and  free  in  the  darkness  as  in  the  day- 
time. He  is  unconscious  of  his  human  audience — 
which  he  cannot  see;  but  he  is  aware  of  the  Divine 
Listener  Whom  the  gloom  cannot  hide.  So  he 
challenges  the  darkness  with  a  song.  Some  few 
years  ago  experiments  were  made  toward  dis- 
pelling London  fogs  by  the  discharge  of  high- 
power  currents  of  electricity  into  areas  of  upper 
air  where  it  lay  thickest;  but  with  very  indifferent 
result.  What  is,  however,  up  to  now  a  proven  im- 
possibihty  in  Nature,  is  an  open  secret  in  the  world 
which  lies  behind  all  seen  things.  Project  the  song 
of  the  Lord  into  the  most  impenetrable  darkness 
which  ever  enwr  ps  the  soul,  and  it  will  scatter  the 
darkness,  m''king  midnight  as  noonday. 

We  are  in  danger  of  losing  many  things  as  the 
War  takes  on  fresh  phases,  and  demands  of  us 
fresh  reconstructions  of  life.  Most  of  all  are  we 
in  danger  of  losing  the  joy  of  the  Lord — our 
strength.  Indeed,  some  of  us  are  even  wondering 
already,  if  these  staggering  events  in  which  all 
have  some  share  do  not  make  our  singing  some- 
what out  of  place.  Should  we  not  rather  pray? 
Or,  if  we  must  sing,  should  not  our  songs  be  the 
Penitential  Psalms  ?  "  How  can  we  sing  the 
Lord's  song  in  a  strange  land  " — a  land  of  loss  and 
angui.sh,  of  contradicted  faith  and  violently 
thwarted  aim?  And  as  we  thus  query  with  our- 
selves, the  world  looks  on  to  see  what  difference 
being  a  Christian  really  makes  to  men  who  have 


SONGS  IN  THE  NIGHT 


85 


to  live  through  this  night  of  doubt  and  sorrow. 
We  are  not  to  sing  just  to  keep  our  own  cour- 
age up  to  the  mark,  but  as  a  witness  to  the 
abiding  realities  which  war  cannot  touch.  While 
our  song  in  the  night  is  for  the  Lord's  ear,  it  is 
likewise  for  the  world's  conscience.  And  there 
are  pilgrims  of  the  night  who  will  never  find  their 
way  Home  but  for  the  music  of  the  Gospel  sung  in 
the  dark  by  those  who  caunot  keep  silence. 

The  night  is  dark,  and  is  lasting  much  longer 
than  we  anticipated.  Vitality  and  energy  are  at 
their  lowest  ebb  as  its  sleepless  hours  go  by  with 
leaden  feet.  Fears  and  terrors  only  half- 
discerned  loom  before  us  much  larger  than  they 
really  are,  and  almost  paralyze  our  courage.  And 
yet  if  such  an  example  as  the  Psalmist's  means 
anything  to  us — as  it  has  meant  to  the  many  who 
have  come  between  his  day  and  ours — it  means 
that  a  man's  deepest  faith  will  manage  to  get  itself 
expressed  under  every  circumstance.  What  has 
been  learned  in  the  light  cannot  be  finally  disposed 
of  by  a  mere  accident  of  darkness.  Human  selfish- 
ness, which,  be  it  remembered,  is  the  tap-root  of 
war's  horrors,  can  and  does  plunge  a  world  into 
black  night.  But  it  cannot  make  a  Christian  silent, 
whose  songs  are  in  his  heart.  He  may  not  be 
able  to  see  the  score  in  the  darkness — but  then 
he  doesn't  need  it !  It  may  succeed  in  shaking  his 
confidence  in  human  nature — because  it  ought  to 
be  shaken.  But  since  it  cannot  obscure  the  Truth 
which  it  confirms,  it  cannot  shake  his  loyalty  to 


36         THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

God.  For  even  war— the  most  hideous  expression 
of  which  selfishness  is  capable — casts  no  aspersion 
on  the  nature  of  God,  which,  as  revealed  in  Christ, 
is  the  believer''  ultimate  security.  Su  faith  sings 
on  and  keeps  its  patient  watch.  It  lifts  up  its 
head,  for  redemption  draweth  nigh. 

II 

It  is  instructive  to  recall  the  burden  of  the 
Psalmist's  songs  in  the  night,  since  the  subject 
makes  the  song  because  it  first  makes  the  singer. 
"  Thy  statutes  have  been  my  songs  in  the  house 
of  my  pilgrimage!"  "I  -will  sing  aloud  of  Thy 
righteousness! "  "  I  will  sing  of  the  mrrcies  of 
the  Lord  for  ever! "  He  sings  of  God's  Law,  of 
His  rectitude  in  His  dealings  with  His  people, 
and  of  His  everlasting  mercy,  because  it  is  on  these 
things  that  his  soul  feeds.  Personal  experience 
of  their  reality  forbids  any  fluctuation  of  confi- 
dence. In  himself  he  has  irrefutable  proof  of  the 
Divine  trustworthiness.  He  cannot  fear,  even 
though  the  mountains  be  removed  into  the  depth 
of  the  sea.  So  he  sings  in  the  darkness  what  he 
has  learned  in  the  sunshine.  His  faith  is  vocal 
because  it  is  victorious  over  every  threatening 
circumstance. 

It  is  of  these  great  realities  that  we  too  can  sing 
in  our  night  of  troubie,  since  they  alone  furnish 
us  with  incentives  to  trustfulness,  and  with  un- 
failing interpretation  of  the  present  glcom,  which, 
be  it  said,  withstands  every  challenge  but  that  of 


SONGS  IN  THE  NIGHT 


37 


Christian  courage.    For  the  statutes  of  God  ex- 
plain the  necessity  of  this  War.     If  we  read  them 
<  aright,  we  learn  that  He  can  never  be  passive  when 

;  lin  gathers  itself  to  battle  against  human  freedom. 

j  The  age-long  conflict  between  light  and  darkness 

<-  is  part  of  the  Eternal  Decrees.     It  is  settled  from 

before  the  foundation  of  the  world  that  the  Son 
I  of  Man  should  bear  a  sharp  two-edged  sword  to 

I  execute   justice.      Only    so   could    the    righteous 

I  nature  of  God  be  seriously  maintained.    But  since 

I  this  is  established  for  ever  in  Christ,  we  may  be 

I  certain  that  wrong  must  ultimately  be  crushed. 

I  This  is  the  song  we  are  to  sing  in  the  night,  and 

1'  to  sing  bravely.     For  we  need  never  be  in  doubt 

I      _  as  to  the  final  issues  of  this  present  struggle.    The 

(I  sword  that  is  bathed  in  Heaven  cannot  be  drawn  in 

5  vain. 

And  our  song  of  His  righteousness  shall  help 
at  any  rate  to  prevent  a  righteous  cause  from  being 
unrighteously  prosecuted.  Some  in  our  midst  are 
calling  out  for  reprisals  against  the  enemy  for  his 
diabolical  disregard  of  every  humane  instinct,  and 
his  murderous  contempt  of  the  precious  lives  of 
women  and  children.  And  there  is  danger  lest 
authority  should  be  carried  away  from  standards 
of  righteousness  by  popular  clamour — to  our  utter 
undoing.  Sing  on  therefore,  you  who  know  God, 
and  let  it  be  known  that  there  is  a  people  in  the 
land  who  believe  in  the  righteousness  of  God, 
revealed  for  all  time  in  One  Who  endured  the  full 
enmity  of  human  sin  without  making  reprisal — 


38         THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

and  thereby  conquered  it.  And  sing,  too,  of  the 
mercies  of  the  Lord,  which  assure  us  that  the 
discipline  of  pain  is  protective  that  the  smart  of 
sorrow  is  necessary  to  fruitfulness,  and  that 
pardon  is  free  to  a  penitent  people  who  seek  His 
Face. 


What  is  true  of  the  Nation  is  true  also  of  the 
individual.  In  the  dark  night  of  our  loneliness  and 
perplexity,  when  unprovoked  hostility  has  brought 
heart-sickening  disappointment,  or  vvl  i  bereave- 
ment has  put  out— it  seems  for  ever— the  bright- 
ness of  day.  His  song  may  yet  be  with  us.  For 
it  was  in  far  deeper  gloom  that  He  Himself  sang 
"  in  the  same  night  in  which  He  was  betrayed." 
Unstable  friendship  and  unmeasured  hatred  united 
for  His  overthrow.  His  hope  of  ultimate  victory 
seemed  utterly  confounded  by  events.  The 
shadow  of  the  Cross  fell  darkly,  blotting  out  all 
the  light  but  that  which  shone  undimmed  within 
Him.  In  that  night  he  sang  with  His  disciples 
the  song  of  the  Lord,  before  going  into  the  Garden 
to  pray  and  to  die.  And  it  is  no  far-fetched 
imagination  which  suggests  that  it  was  from  the 
old  Psaher  that  the  song  was  taken— of  the 
statutes,  the  righteousness,  and  the  tender  mercies 
of  God !  Only  let  us  be  careful  to  maintain  union 
with  Him  during  the  ordinary  days  of  life,  and  its 
dark  nights  will  never  find  us  without  subject  for 
song,  or  without  voice  of  melody. 


SONGS  IN  THE   NIGHT  39 

Quite  recently  there  came  into  my  hands  iin.s 
written  by  a  young  missionary  in  West  Afi  ca, 
who  died  at  his  lonely  station  from  blackwater 
fever.  They  were  found  among  his  papers  after 
his  death.  Behind  them  is  the  unwritten  story  of 
a  dark  night  in  which  he  met  the  tempter— and 
conquered.  With  strength  exhausted,  aspirations 
checked,  home  and  friends  far  away,  and  life  itself 
apparently  consecrated  to  the  sacred  work  in  vain, 
he  yet  sang  the  song  of  the  Lord,  and  handed  on 
the  torch  of  Christian  heroism  to  all  who  should 
ever  follow  him  into  the  darkness,  as  perhaps  in 
measure  we  are  doing  today. 

"  Don't  let  the  song  go  out  of  your  life; 

Though  it  chance  sometimes  to  flow 
In  a  minor  strain ;  it  will  blend  again 

With  the  major  tone  you  know. 

"  What  though  shadows  rise  to  obscure  life's  skies, 

And  hide  for  a  time  the  sun. 
The  sooner  they'll  lift  and  reveal  the  rift, 

If  you  let  the  melody  run. 

"  Don't  let  the  song  go  out  of  your  life; 

Though  your  voice  may  have  lost  its  trill. 
Though  the  tremulous  note  may  die  in  your  throat, 

Let  it  sing  in  your  spirit  still. 

"  Don't  let  the  song  gr  out  of  your  life; 

Let  it  ring  in  the  soul  while  here ; 
'And  when  you  go  hence,  'twill  follow  you  thence, 

And  live  on  in  another  sphere." 


I 


40         THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

Remember,  any  one  can  sing  when  the  day 
breaks— if  he's  awake.  But  only  he  whose  faith 
has  ceased  to  be  dehberate  and  has  become  instinc- 
tive can  smg  in  such  a  night  as  this,  and  can  thus 
help  to  scatter  the  fear  which  threatens  the  peace 
of  the  faint-hearted,  and  the  deadly  fatalism  which 
Ijlinds  thoughtless  men  to  the  real  issues  confront- 
ing us. 

One  glad  day  the  darkness  will  vanish  at  Christ's 
Olonous  Appearing.     With  the  swiftness  of  the 
lightning  flash  He  will  come,  driving  the  blackness 
before  Him,  and  gathering  the  children  of  the 
Day  to  the  joy  of  His  presence.     May  He  sur- 
prise us  singing  the  song  of  Moses  and  the  I.amb 
—that  is,  of  the  statutes  of  the  Lord,  and  of  His 
redeeming  righteousness  and  mercy!     For  then 
we  shall  continue  it  in  the  Homeland ;  where  they 
sing  not  a  new  song,  but  "  as  it  were  a  new  song." 
The  song  of  the  gloom  is  still  the  song  of  the 
Glory;  only,  sung  there  with  new  melody  of  under- 
standing and  new  harmony  of  fulfilled  longing 
It  sounds  "as  it  were"  new!     H,  however,  we 
fail  to  learn  it  here,  eternity  itself  will  not  recover 
our  lost  opportunity.     This  is  the  true  value  and 
meaning  of  these  days  and  nights  of  darkness. 
And  this  IS  the  obligation  which  they  urge  upon 
us  all— that  we  should  show  forth  the  praises  of 
Him  Who  hath  called  us  out  of  darkness  into  His 
marvellous  light.     For  it  is  thus  that  souls  are 
won,  even  m  such  a  time  as  this  present. 


I 


CAN  THINE  HEART  ENDURE? 

"Can  thine  heart  ^nOurc? --Ezekiel  xxii:  14. 

EVENTS  have  made  us  all  profoundly  dis- 
trustful  of  the   .hallow  optimism  of  the 

its  assumn" "■    T  °^u''  ^^''■-    Aff^'"  ^"d  again 
Its  assumptions  have  been  confounded  by  subse- 
quen   events;  and  we  are  now  more  widely  awake 
o  the  seriousness  of  the  situation,  and  to  the  cer- 
tamty  that    further  sufTering  awaits   us   ere  the 
vctonous  end  is  reached.    \\'e  know  now  that  our 
every       ou.ee  will  be  strained  to  the  utmos     and 
that  se^cre  as  has  been  the  struggle  hitherto    it 
must  be  yet  fiercer  before  the  Cause  in     hS  the 
sword  was  reluctantly  drawn  is  vindicated    and 
our  righteous  objective  is  achieved.    This  has  been 
brought  home  afresh  to  us  by  that  measure "f   he 
horrors  of  warfare  which  has  recently  come  to  our 
own  land  and  which  by  common  consent  is  by  n„ 
means  all   that  we  must  expect.     As  the  stra"n 
mcreases   the  question  which  many  are  a  king  is 
a    to  wheher  we  can  hold  out-not  in  resje 
of  material  things,  for  we  believe  that  by  recen 
measures  the  problems  connected  with  men,  muni 
.ons,  and  money  are  now  more  or  less  soI^eT     t 
>s  .n  regard  to  our  moral  resources  that  th.  most 

41 


42         THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

serious  minds  in  the  country  are  apprehensive — 
and  not  without  abundant  reason. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  the  manners  and  bear- 
ing of  a  large  section  of  the  community  do  not 
suggest  endurance,  for  they  do  not  suggest  vision. 
The  true  significance  of  events  does  not  seem  to 
have  dawned  upon  great  numbers,  and  "  where 
there  is  no  vision  the  people  perish."  On  every 
hand  we  see  men  and  women  almost  feverishly 
seeking  diversion  of  mind — against  which,  in  its 
place,  nothing  is  to  be  said— rather  than  inspira- 
tion oi  heart.  There  seems  to  be  in  the  com- 
munity but  little  of  that  spirit  which  faces  a  great 
urgency  with  a  great  resolve.  The  War  has 
brought  much  to  light  in  our  National  life,  but 
it  has  revealed  nothing  so  vividly  as  the  inadequacy 
of  our  professed  faith.  People  are  simply  not 
turning  to  God  with  seriousness  of  purpose  to  any 
appreciable  extent.  And  though  the  days  become 
no  lighter,  nor  the  outlook  (so  far  as  the  human 
horizon  bounds  it)  any  more  hopeful,  we  are  yet 
very  far  from  such  moral  and  spiritual  revival  as 
would  suggest  an  assuiing  answer  to  the  query: 
Can  we  hold  out? 

Of  the  many  considerations  which  press  upon 
us  just  now,  this  must  appeal  with  strongest  force 
to  Christians.  For  they  alone  of  the  entire  com- 
munity possess  the  true  secret  of  endurance,  and 
upon  them  rests  the  responsibility  of  effectively 
commending  it  to  an  unconvinced  people. 


CAN  THINE  HEART  ENDURE?       43 


The  Word  of  God  is  the  Book  of  Endurance. 
It  abounds  in  exhortations  to  His  servants  to 
endure  hardness,  and  even  affliction,  in  the  carrying 
out  of  their  commission.  It  declares  that  all  who 
call  themselves  His  sons  must  prepare  to  endure 
chastening.  It  promises  rich  reward  to  the  men 
who  worthily  endure  temptation.  It  condemns  those 
whose  purpose  endures  "but  for  a  while,"  and 
commends  with  promise  of  salvation  those  who 
endure  to  the  end.  It  reveals  the  foundation  of  all 
redeeming  influence  in  the  fact  of  Christ's  own 
endurance  of  the  Cross;  and  bids  His  disciples 
"consider  Him  that  endured  such  contradiction 
of  sinners  against  Himself,"  lest  they  become 
wearied  and  faint  in  their  minds.  And  its  final 
encouragements  to  faith  are  expressed  in  terms  of 
the  Divine  endurance.  For  it  is  the  refrain  of 
Psalmist  and  Apostle  alike  that  "  His  mercy  en- 
dureth  for  ever,"  that  His  love  "  endureth  all 
things,"  and  that  His  Evangel  endures  when  all 
things  else  fail  and  decay. 

It  is  thus  to  the  Word  of  God  that  His  children 
must  look  for  reinforcement  in  these  days  of  test. 
As  individuals  our  measure  of  responsibility  is 
clearly  defined,  and  well  within  the  compass  of 
our  resources.  We  shall  fulfil  it,  however,  only 
as  we  recognize  both  the  implicates  of  our  pro- 
fession, and  the  claims  of  God.  It  is  our  convic- 
tion that  the  spiritual  issues  of  the  present  National 


44         THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

struggle — which  are  the  real  ones — are  largely, 
if  not  entirely,  in  the  hands  of  the  avowed  people 
of  God.  It  is  their  part  to  strengthen  the  Nation's 
fortitude,  to  establish  those  who  are  becoming 
faint-hearted,  ami  to  illumine  the  present  dark- 
ness by  their  own  sheer  belief  in  the  faithfulness 
of  the  Lord.  Are  we  all  rising  to  this,  the  height 
of  our  calling?  Is  it  our  inspiring  consciousness 
that  we  have  come  to  the  kingdom  for  such  a  time 
as  this?    Or  a'-e  our  hearts  failing  us  for  fear? 


In  days  as  dark  as  the  present,  and  circumstances 
far  more  difficult,  it  is  recorded  of  Moses  for  our 
encouragement  and  stimulation,  that  "  he  endured 
as  seeing  Him  Who  is  invisible."  With  much  less 
of  help  in  this  respect  than  is  available  to  us,  he 
continued  faithful  to  his  early  loyalty  and  to  his 
first  commitments  in  regard  to  God  and  the  Na- 
tion. He  chose  the  fellowship  of  affliction,  when 
an  easeful  path  was  the  alternative ;  and  despised 
both  flattery  and  threat  in  carrying  out  his  ap- 
pointed task  of  leading  an  undisciplined  mob 
mainly  void  of  understanding,  and  of  impressing 
upon  them  the  reality  and  value  of  life's  spiritual 
meaning  so  as  to  mould  them  into  a  God-fearing 
people.  Such  an  one  was  bound  to  have  his  dark 
hours.  Depression  always  dogs  the  footsteps  of 
one  who,  single-handed  because  single-minded, 
seeks  to  bring  God  to  men's  recognition  and  con- 
sciousness.   When  duty  is  seen  at  close  range  to  be 


CAN  THINE  HEART  ENDURE?       45 

no  longer  romantic  but  monotonous,  when  the 
momentum  generated  by  first  effort  proves  inade- 
quate to  accomplish  desired  ends,  and  when  the 
value  of  toilsome  persistence  is  questioned,  gloom 
IS  apt  to  settle  upon  the  most  ardent  spirit  Then 
It  IS  that  the  vision  of  '•  Him  Who  is  invisible  " 
IS  at  Its  brightest  and  strongest.  And  herein  lay 
the  secret  of  Moses'  endurance.  It  magnified  his 
resources  and  minimized  his  difficulties  It  en- 
couraged his  efforts  and  discouraged  his  fears  It 
constramed  his  energies  and  restrained  his'im- 
haliT'  '"'  *"'"  '"'^"  ^"''  ^'^«="R»hened  his 

The  great  danger  of  to-day  is  lest  our  vision 
of  God  shot,  d  be  obscured  by  the  dust  and  smoke 
of  battle     We  can  hardly  live  for  a  single  hour 
without  havmg  our  attention  claimed  by  passing 
phases  of  the  conflict,  by  some  threatening  fluctua- 
tion of  the  fortunes  of  war,  or  by  some  chilling 
^ar  of  worse  things  to  come.     Only  those  whose 
-rts  are  fixed  where  true  peace  alone  is  to  bf 
iound  can  hope  to  endure.     For  only  they  can 
see  what  is  hidden  from  mortal  eyes.    It  is  vision 
of  the  enthroned  Christ  which  inspires  the  steadv- 
mg  certaintv  that  all  life  is  planned  on  a  grand 
scale,  and  that  everything  is  surely  moving  for- 
ward to  a  predetermined  issue.     Since  all  power 
IS  given  unto  Him,  both  in  Heaven  and  on  earth 
It  becomes  the  settled  consciousness  of  those  who 
cons  antly  behold  Him,  that  He  is  closely  involved 
in  all  the  present  disquieting  happenings.    For  not 


THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 


only  are  the  fortunes  of  our  country  threatened, 
but  the  interests  of  His  Kingdom  also.  To  see 
Him  sitting  above  the  water-floods  of  men's  wrath 
and  armed  hatred,  to  know  that  no  mere  haphazard 
chance  can  affect  the  final  good  He  purposes,  and 
above  all  to  have  daily  renewal  of  the  hope  of  His 
Glorious  Appearing,  is  the  only  secret  of  His 
people's  endurance.  The  present  becomes  sacred 
to  the  man  to  whom  the  future  is  indubitably 
assured. 

HI 

"  Can  thine  heart  endure?  "  Are  the  consola- 
tions of  God  adequate  in  days  which  for  unrelieved 
f rightfulness  have  no  precedent?  Is  there  any 
available  power  which  can  make  men  stand  fast 
in  the  evil  day?  It  seems  as  though  the  Gospel 
itself  is  on  trial  in  the  lives  of  those  who  profess 
its  faith,  with  all  the  world  looking  on  as  interested 
witnesses.  Unless  its  dynamic  is  unmistakably 
sufficient  for  the  carrying  out  of  its  ethic,  creating 
in  Christian  men  unruffled  confidence  and  un- 
daunted courage,  and  inspiring  them  to  utmost 
self-sacrifice  in  the  service  to  which  they  are 
pledged,  the  world  is  going  finally  to  reject  its 
redeeming  declarations.  Continuance  is  the  ulti- 
mate proof  of  reality  in  spiritual  profession,  and 
only  as  it  characterizes  the  lives  of  Christians  to- 
("ay  will  men  accept  the  message  they  proclaim. 
1  "pon  our  proved  ability,  not  only  to  endure  the 
strain  of  life  worthily,  but  also  to  overcome  every 


CAN  THINE  HEART  ENDURE?        47 

influence  which  tends  to  divert  our  energies  from 
devotion  to  the  things  of  the  Kingdom  to  personal 
concerns,  depends  in  some  measure  the  very  repu- 
tation of  our  Lord.  With  what  solemn  responsi- 
bility does  this  fact  invest  life  at  the  present  time 
when  the  world  is  at  the  cross-roads! 

The  man  who  looks  up  is  inevitably  lifted  up. 
Such  is  the  power  of  that  vision  granted  to  the  pure 
in  heart.  He  rises  above  the  depressing  atmos- 
phere of  a  war-swept  world,  and  dwells  in  the 
realm  of  eternal  and  unchangeable  realities.  The 
sorrows  and  anxieties  which  are  blinding  so  many 
to  the  things  which  war  cannot  shake,  become  to 
him  the  media  through  which  the  Lord  is  brought 
within  his  range  of  sight— the  dark  glasses  which 
enable  his  eye  to  look  unblinkingly  on  the  sun. 
He  endures  "as  seeing  Him  Who  is  invisible." 
If  this  is  a  possibility  to  us  all,  it  is  likewise  an 
obligation. 

In  view,  then,  of  yet  darker  days  and  more 
dangerous  nights,  of  heavier  burdens  and  increased 
strain,  of  fiercer  tests  and  larger  demands,  this 
query  is  pressed  upon  every  one  who  names 
Christ's  Name:  "  Can  thine  heart  endure f" 


I 


VI 

"THE  SKY  NOT  THE  GRAVE  IS  OUR 
GOAL  " 

"  From  whence  also  we  look  for  the  Saviour."— PaiLtP- 
piANS  iii  :  20. 

IN  seeking  to  estimate  not  only  the  losses  but 
the  gains  also  of  the  past  long  and  anxious 
months,  one   fact  stands  out  conspicuously. 
The  darkness  of  the  night  has  blotted  out  much 
that  was  unworthy  and  unreliable,  and  has  brought 
the  brightness  of  the  Star  of  Hope  within  men's 
range  of  vision.    Tired  of  human  expedients  which 
have  but  discredited  themselves,  and  sick  at  heart 
because  of  delayed  relief,  it  is  beginning  to  dawn 
upon  even  those  who  hitherto  have  professed  little 
interest  in  these  things,  that  Christ  must  verify 
Himself,  if  at  all,  by  some  sort  of  interposition 
upon  the  course  of  the  world's  life.     For  it  is 
obviously  out  of  gear.    The  War  in  all  its  naked 
hideousness  is,  after  all,  only  a  symptom  of  deep- 
seated  disorder.      Civilization,   which   has  mani- 
festly failed  to  avert  these  present  calamities— 
whose  crown  indeed  they  are— is  convicted  of  an 
unspeakable  lack,  convincing  even  to  those  whose 
creed   has  hitherto  been  the   self-sufficiency   of 
humanity,     .'^ind  an  indefinable  sense  of  expecto- 
48 


"THE  SKY  IS  OUR  GOAL"  49 

tion    not  always  enlightened  by  any  means,  is 
surely  taking  hold  of  men's  minds. 

To  the  believer  whose  life  finds  its  nourishment 
m  the  Sacred  Word,  this  is  by  no  means  surpris- 
ing, nor  Its  meaning  obscure.    In  the  blackest  night 
he  has  never  been  without  light  in  his  dwelling. 
When  others  are  cast  down,  his  heart  is  upheld  by 
a  hope  which  at  once  purifies  his  purpose  and  in- 
spires his  energies.    Through  the  gloom  of  earth's 
mysterious  events,  and  the  moral  nist  of  its  hos- 
tilities   he  journeys  as  a  pilgrim  courage-shod, 
cherishing  the  secret  certainty  of  a  victorious  issue, 
tven  when  that  irresistible  wave  of  grief  which 
IS  the  fear  of  us  all  sweeps  his  whole  being,  and 
the  grave  covers  his  dearest,  his  sorrow   however 
poignant,  is  altogether  without  hopelessness     For 
he  believes  that  the  Lord  Christ  is  Himself  com- 
ing again.    He  reads  it  on  every  page  of  his  Bible 
And  he  reads  it  in  the  instincts  of  his  own  heart 
also.     He  hears  His  promise,  "  Behold,  I  come 
quickly,"  ,n  all  the  events  of  the  present,  and  His 
injunction  to  "  watch,"  in  every  fresh  overthrow 
of    human    conception    and    institution.      Woes 
greater   far  than   those   under   which   the   world 
shudders  to-day  may  be  coming  ere  this  War  is 
ended.     But  He  may  come  long  before  that  time- 
and  the  believer  looks  for  His  appearing  at  any 
moment,  knowing  that  for  His  own  that  shall  be 
the  end  of  all  woe.    It  is  his  deepest  faith  that  one 
day,  without  warning,  "  The  Lord  Himself  shall 
descend  from  Heaven,  with  the  voice  of  the  Arch- 


80         THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

angel  and  the  trump  of  God.  And  the  dead  in 
Christ  shall  rise  first.  Then  we  which  are  alive 
and  remain  shall  be  caught  up  together  with  them 
to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air:  And  so  shall  we  ever 
be  with  the  Lord."  Since  the  Scripture  cannot  be 
broken,  it  is  with  these  words  that  Christ's  fol- 
lowers hearten  one  another  in  this  dark  and  cloudy 
day. 


I  am  not  of  those  who  affect  the  ability  to 
piece  together  the  scattered  fragments  of  the 
Prophetic  Word,  and  to  present  a  finished  pro- 
gramme of  future  events — somewhat  as  a  child 
plays,  seriously  enough,  with  a  puzzle.  Indeed, 
I  believe  that  such  a  conception  of  Divine 
Revelation  as  this  exercise  involves  is  perilously 
like  a  dishonouring  of  God ;  as  though  He  shv/uld 
leave  purposely  obscure  anything  so  vital  to  the 
life  of  His  people  as  truth  concerning  His  uhimate 
purposes!  For  the  great  fact  of  Christ's  Second 
Coming  is  no  matter  of  uncertainty.  It  is  writ- 
ten plainly  alike  iii  Old  and  New  Testaments,  as 
the  essential  completion  of  the  work  accomplished 
at  His  First  Coming,  and  of  His  present  Session 
at  the  Throne  of  God.  The  evidence  for  the  fact 
that  He  will  come,  and  for  the  manner  of  His 
Coming,  is  as  complete  as  is  that  for  the  fact 
that  once  He  did  appear  amon^  men.  Around  'he 
three  great  words — whose  depth  none  can  ever 
fathom — Atonement,  Advocacy,  Advent,  all  his- 


i 


"THE  SKY  IS  OUR  GOAL"  51 

m'^u-^""?  /'■°Ph*=^y  concerning  Him  circle. 
Nothing  IS  for  instance  dearer  to  His  own  con- 
sciousness as  unveiled  in  the  Gospels,  than  the 
certainty  that  His  departure  was  but  for  a  .eason 
1  will  come  again,  and  receive  you  unto  Myself  " 
is  the  text  of  His  last  discourse  to  the  sorrowing 
men  He  must  leave;  and  enshrined  in  His  institu- 
tion of  the  Sacrament  of  Redemption  is  an  undv- 

at^hirr^ 'h  '•'''  '"'^"'"'y-    ^'  't  '°  be  wondered 
at  that  this  Hope  captured  the  hearts  of  those  who 

compamed  with  Him,  and  that  the  earliest  Chri^ 
tian  writings  throb  and  glow  with  its  intensity? 

Whatever  else  may  be  said  of  the  early  Church 
his  IS  indubitably  true,  that  its  back  was  toward 
the  wot-ld,  and  its  face  toward  the  Coming  of 
the  Lord.    Its  course  was  steered,  not  by  the  chart 
of  Its  Creed  but  by  the  pole-star  of  its  Hope.    The 
fore-glow  of  the  Day  illumined  its  dark  hours,  and 
saved  It  from  present  fears.    Its  moral  and  ethical 
We  found  Its  surest  impulse  in  the  certainty  that 
He  would  come,  just  as  it  had  found  its  firm 
foundation  in  the  certainty  that  He  had  come 
And  the  inspiration  of  its  splendid  sacrifices,  con- 
flicts, and  energies  was  in  this  same  sure  con- 
sciousness.    "  Now  "  was  always  the  day  of  Sal- 
vation, and  hence  of  earnest  effort  to  win  men  to 
Christ,  since  to-morrow  might  well  be  the  day  of 
Glory. 

Are  we  wiser  in  our  own  day?  For  it  is  un- 
questionably true  that  we  have  to  a  large  extent 
allowed  the  truth  of  the  Lord's  Coming  to  drop 


62         THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

out  of  our  thinking.  Many  of  the  theological 
mazes  into  which  recent  years  have  brought  us 
are  largely  due  to  the  blind  following  of  so-called 
teachers  who  airily  explain  away  the  cardinal 
statements  of  the  New  Testament  on  hypotheses 
whose  acceptance  demands  infinitely  more  credulity 
than  reason.  And  much  of  our  lack  of  spiritual 
passion,  attested  by  the  powerlessness  of  highly- 
organized  effort,  is  due  to  the  same  cause.  Of 
course  many  thoughtful  men  have  been  repelled  by 
the  altogether  unspiritual  curiosity  and  irreligious 
speculation  as  to  times  and  seasons  with  which  a 
few  ill-balanced  minds  have  invested  this  whole 
subject.  And  the  truth  has  often  been  discredited 
by  the  rivalries — not  always  essentially  Christian 
— of  conflicting  theorists.  Yet  even  so,  the  Church 
is  without  excuse  in  her  faithless  and  almost 
general  surrender  of  that  glorious  Hope  which  is 
the  ideal  animation  of  her  true  life.  For  with 
Heaven-born  clearness  it  shines  throughout  the 
entire  course  of  Revelation.  That  it  is  the  one 
message  to  which  men  of  the  world  will  give  ear 
to-day,  and  the  one  truth  for  which  the  hearts,  of 
His  own  people  are  everywhere  longing,  only 
serves  to  emphasize  the  Church's  failure.  Oh  for 
a  trumpet-voice  to  sound  throughout  our  warring 
land,  comforting  the  sorrowful,  encouraging  the 
downcast,  and  stimulating  the  wavering — "  Lift 
up  your  heads,  for  your  redemption  draweth 
nigh ! " 


«  THE  SKY  IS  OUR  GOAL  » 


S3 


n 

There  are  two  mutually  contradicting  views  of 
Christianity  current  among  us.    On  the  one  hand 
it  is  affirmed  that  Christ  has  liberated  a  power 
making  for  righteousness  among  men  and  nations, 
which  is  gradually  overspreading  the  world,  cap- 
turing civilizations  and  governments,  and  establish- 
ing a  Kingdom  which  shall  ultimately  be  realized, 
in  which  all  shall  know  God  from  the  least  to  the 
greatest,  and  in  which  the  will  of  Christ  shall  be 
ideally  done.     This  is  the  view  which  is  preached 
from   very   many   Christian   pulpits   to-day,   and 
which  consequently  finds  widest  acceptance.     Its 
watchword  is  "  Work."     Its  appeal  is  to  human 
energy.      Its    vision    is    of    a    world    gradually 
improving  and  developing  in  righteousness.     Its 
objective  is  a   temple  made  with  hands.      And 
it  is  as  surely  out  of  accord  with  the  teaching 
of  the  New  Testament,  as  it  is  out  of  harmony 
with  the  hellish  facts  of  the  War.    There  has  not 
been  any  serious  attempt  on  the  part  of  its  ex- 
ponents to  reconcile  this  view  of  the   Kingdom 
with    the    opposing   answer    of    high    explosive, 
machine  gun,  and  human  butchery.    For  they  are 
honest  men,  and  know  only  too  well  that  such 
theory  and  such  facts  cannot  be  made  to  agree. 
A  reconstruction  of  their  theology  in  this  respect 
will  not  be  the  least  of  the  gains  which  the  War 
has  brought  to  Church  and  world  alike. 

The  other  view  of  Christianity — closest  in  ac- 


64         THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

cord  with  the  facts  of  the  written  Word,  which 
is  our  sole  ultimate  authority — is  that  Christ,  once 
crucified,  and  now  living  for  evermore,  is  calling 
out  from  the  world  a  people  for  His  own  posses- 
sion. In  the  present  age  He  works  tlirough  those 
who  accept  His  sovereignty  and  own  His  head- 
ship, to  the  evangelization  of  the  world,  and  thus 
to  the  increase  of  their  own  number;  and  in  the 
fulness  of  time — which  day  and  hour  is  unde- 
clared— He  will  come  again  visibly  to  unite  His 
people  with  Himself,  and  to  inaugurate  a  new  era 
of  world-government,  in  which  they  and  He  shall 
henceforth  be  associated  until  the  end  of  tin.i. 
Of  the  great  events  beyond  His  Coming  I  do  not 
now  speak.  Many  of  them  are  admittedly  de- 
clared in  terms  of  a  vivid  imagery  which  lends 
itself  to  conjectures  in  which  men  may  easily  lose 
themselves.  But  concerning  this  fact  there  is 
neither  obscurity  nor  uncertainty — that  the  end 
of  this  our  age  will  be  ushered  in  by  the  Coming 
again  of  the  Lord  Christ,  the  resurrection  of  those 
that  sleep  in  Him,  the  catching  up  of  those  that 
are  alive  and  remain,  and  the  glorious  union  of  all 
His  people  with  Him  their  Lord. 


Hence  we  do  not  look  for  any  gradual  improve- 
ment of  the  world.  Our  faith  is  not  in  the  slightest 
degree  staggered  by  the  sight  of  nations  consum- 
ing one  another  in  a  blaze  of  hatred  and  fury. 
The  utter  overthrow  of  civilization  does  not  for 


"  THE  SKY  IS  OUR  GOAL  "  fls 

a  moment  disappoint  us,  for,  taught  by  Christ 
we  never  expected  anything  else.    The  setting  up 
ot  a  Kmgdom  on  earth  while  the  rightful  King 
IS  away,  has  never  been  our  ideal.     Hence  its 
seeming  and  indeed  actual   failure  comes  as  -.o 
shock,    Things  are  happening  just  as  He  foretold 
—and  will  yet  happen.    Peace  in  this  present  strife 
may  be  made-nor  would  I  say  one  word  to  give 
the  impression  that  our  Nation  should  on  any  plea 
be  robbed  of  that  victorious  peace  which  must 
tollow  a  righteous  cause  righteously  upheld.    But 
no  permanent  peace,  no  brotherhood  of  men  can 
ever  be  set  up  by  force  of  arms  or  skill  of  diplo- 
macy     The  Coming  of  Christ  Himself  is  the 
only  hope  of  His  people,  who  in  these  dark  days 
should  be  watching  for  His  appearing  more  than 
they  that  watch  for  the  morning.     For  "  in  such 
an  hour  as  ye  think  not  "  He  will  appear.    And  in 
that  hour  "  blessed  are  those  servants  whom  the 
Lord    when    He    cometh    shall    find    watching" 
whether  He  come  at  midnight  or  cock-crow. 

The  strong  conviction  grows  upon  many  of  the 
most  thoughtful  Christians  that  we  are  living  in 
the  last  days.  Nor  is  this  a  mere  emotional 
consciousness  unrelated  to  objective  evidence-  for 
It  would  certainly  seem  as  though  the  signs  fore- 
told are  being  fulfilled  as  in  no  previous  era  Un- 
exampled increase  of  lawlessness,  and  decline  in 
respect  for  the  things  of  God,  mark  the  life  of  the 
world  and  the  outward  professing  Church  alike. 
iVet  never  was  there  such  earnest  longing  for 


6« 


THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 


m 


holiness  on  the  part  of  believers,  nor  such  keen 
zeal  for  eflfective  service  as  is  seen  in  these  days. 
Increasingly  they  draw  away  from  mere  outward 
allegiances  unto  Christ  Himself.  With  jealous 
care  the  Bride  is  making  herself  ready.  The  fig- 
tree  is  putting  forth  her  leaves.  "  The  Lord  is 
at  hand." 

Let  us  then  lay  hold  afresh  of  this  glorious 
truth  in  these  days  of  trouble  and  uncertainty. 
Well  has  it  been  said  that  "  while  the  sinner  who 
realizes  his  doom  cannot  look  up,  the  believer  who 
realizes  his  destiny  cannot  look  down !  "  It  is  by 
the  uplifted  eye,  and  the  consequently  empowered 
heart  and  hand  of  them  that  live  "looking  for 
that  blessed  hope  and  the  glorious  Appearing," 
that  He  is  glorified  and  that  glad  day  hastened. 
"  Behold  the  Bridegroom  cometh ;  go  ye  forth  to 
meet  Him!" 


VII 

"WILL  HE  FIND  FAITH  ON  THE 
EARTH?" 

declaratfons  various  ',n;."*"*\'  '°^  '''^  P'^*" 
growth  of  goodness  an  l^^h'  ■^''"''  "^  '^' 
moral  progresrw.th%hr;  '"^^.tableness   of 

the  universal  ^sHM  I  "^<=«s=ary  corollary  of 
the  Kingdom  o  Gc^^'Td  °'  ""^"^'"^  -"^-1 
dawned  upon  man vuhn I  ''  ""'  "^^"^  *°  ^ave 
>•«  one  serious  oM  J.  '°  ''"«^'^'  that  there 

Christ  h^rZatrtraifdiLr-r"""^ 
s^^e^^a-^rr'^'^^^^^^ 

'°^«aw  the,  long  conflict  between  the 


S8         THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

spiritual  and  material  forces  of  life  which  History 
records;  and  forewarned  His  followers  of  the 
danger  of  faith's  decline  under  the  pressure  of 
events  which  must  seem  to  deny  every  one  of  its 
premises.  And  He  foretold  the  coming  of  a 
Day  which  should  be  at  once  a  coronation  and  a 
catastrophe. 

"  Even  now  we  see  the  Kmgdom  of  God  gradu- 
ally taking  over  the  kingdoms  of  the  world.  Christ 
has  slowly  mastered  the  conscience  of  mankind, 
and  every  advance  in  private  and  public  morality 
is  a  new  triumph."  Thus  one  of  the  most  earnest 
and  sincere  of  modern  prophets — before  the 
Deluge.  Doubtless  he  and  the  many  who  thought 
they  saw  things  in  this  light,  have  realized  how 
completely  they  were  deceived.  Civilization — 
which  they  mistook  for  the  outward  expression 
of  Christ's  Kingdom— has  thrown  off  its  mask, 
and  now  laughs  cynically  in  their  faces.  Beneath 
a  veneer  of  decency  and  tolerance,  the  unchanged 
heart  of  the  world  has  been  but  brooding  its  self- 
ishness and  biding  its  time.  Now  we  ask  with 
more  certainty  as  to  the  answer  than  we  had  two 
years  ago — "  IVhcn  the  Son  of  man  cotneth.  will 
He  find  faith  on  the  earth  ?  "  ^ 

All  the  pious  imagination  of  former  days  has 
gone.  For  we  know  now  that  it  is  scarcity  and 
poverty  of  faith  which  lies  at  the  root  of  all  this 
horrible  business  of  war.  Mr.  Chesterton  wrote 
recently  that  "  the  Christian  principle  has  not  been 
tried  and  found  lacking.  It  has  been  found  diffi- 
cult and  not  tried!"  And  he  is  right.  We  are 
suffering  to-day  by  reason  of  this  very  thing;  and 
it  must  be  said  that  even  the  unprecedented  sor- 


"WILL  HE  FIND  FAITH?"  S9 

rows  which  have  fallen  upon  the  life  of  the   >   , 

for    his  in^iff  ."r"  ^""^  '^^  responsihility 

lor  this  indi (Terence  belongs   to  the  Church   Kf 

Cnis TZJ "'r--"'"'  L^p-a" who'iook' 

tor  His  Appearing,  however,  rests  the  obligation 

means      For  if  we  are  right   in  our  eraso  of 
Christ's  meaning,  these  are  the  last  days       '^ 

I 

There  can  be  no  question  as  to  His  findinp'  in 

iSZl:'  P^^f/^-f.^^^re  He\;co:rto 

earth  to-day.     F<  r  ,f  fauh  is  r  ghtly  reearded  as 

bemg  that  quality  which  gives  assent'to  th  ngs  no 

cerTaTnrn^'rV'"t"-^  ""''"^  "^  P^°°f-  'h"    ' 
certainly   no  lack  of  it  in  current  life.     One  of 

Inti  ChrJ  ^^'^"^'^-^  Kr"«'h  of  all  kinds  of 
anti-Christian  supernaturalism.  This  mav  Quite 
wel  be  attributed,  in  part,  to  moral  revol^fYom  he 
sheer  materialism  of  the  latter  half  of  the  Nine- 
teenth Century.  Men  have  become  tired  of  barren 
negations,  and  have  turned  to  anything  that  seems 
to  offer  contact  with   spiritual   realities.     Hen« 

SDirit[sT"''/°.J''-'  'f'P'^-'"  '''  Christian  Science! 
Sp  ritism.  and  their  more  or  less  allied  cults 
Withou  any  strong  intellectual  basis,  and  indeed 
frequently  without  any  verv  obvious  ethical  rec- 
ommendation, these  forms  of  faith  have  gained 
strong  adherence.  The  more  preposterous  t"eir 
chims,  the  more  popular  they  have  become  And 
the  more  closely  the  War  presses  home  upon  in 
dividuals  the  problems  of  the  soul,  the  more'readi?; 


60 


THE  CONFIDENCE  OP  FAITH 


are  their  tenets  embraced — frequently  at  no  small 
personal  sacrifice.  I  entirely  join  issue  with 
those  who  condemn  the  present  as  an  age  of 
unbelief.  It  is  most  unmistakably  an  age  of  faith. 
But  not  of  the  Faith  of  Christ— the  faith  He 
seeks  at  His  coming. 

Christ's  followers  have  no  need  to  contend  for 
any  narrow  or  exclusive  interpretation  of  the 
Faith  as  He  taught  it.  His  revelation  of  the 
nature  and  purposes  of  God  must  always  defy 
human  attempt  at  definition  and  limitation,  how- 
ever reverently  it  is  made.  Christian  theology 
is  not,  and  in  the  nature  of  the  case  cannot  be, 
an  exact  science.  Yet  this  is  abundantly  clear : 
that  with  every  disclosure  of  Eternal  Love  in 
contact  with  human  sin  and  its  problems,  Christ 
urged  both  by  precept  and  example  that  faith,  to 
be  true,  can  be  nothing  less  than  self-surrendering 
union  with  the  God  and  Father  Whom  He  de- 
clared. We  may  differ  in  our  apprehension  of 
Him ;  and  it  is  certain  that  as  we  exercise  such 
faith  our  powers  of  discernment  and  capacities  of 
moral  energy  will  enlarge.  But  we  shall  not  de- 
part from  the  confidence  that  "  to  us  there  is  one 
God,  the  Father,  of  Whom  are  all  things,  and  we 
unto  Him;  and  one  Lord,  Jesus  Christ,  through 
Whom  are  all  things,  and  we  through  Him." 

It  is  this  faith  which  alone  prepares  men  for  the 
serious  duty  of  living,  and  for  all  that  is  involved 
for  His  followers  in  His  coming.  Nor  is  Christ 
pessimistic  concerning  the  degree  in  which  He 
shall  find  it  an  energetic  passion  at  His  appear- 
ing. To  suggest  this  would  be  to  deny  the  whole 
force  of  His  teaching.    But  so  also  would  be  the 


"WILL  HE  FIND  FAITH?"  61 

disregard  of  His  plain  naming,  to  which  these 
strange  days  have  given  new  meaning 

II 
Strong  faith  may  be,  and  often  is,  only  another 
name  for  strong  delusion;  and  we  may  weU  be 
ZhT.";.'  "*  "I'  "'"y  ^^'^^"«^  that  [hi!  so 
tTe VnJn^^.  "rA"'  •"  °"'"  '^"'J-  Substitutes  for 
the  Gospel  of  Christ  are  everywhere  offered  and 
everywhere  accepted.  The  glory  of  His  Atoning 
Sacrifice  for  sm,  of  His  free  welcome  to  all  who 
comr,  to  H,m   and  of  the  sufficient  Grace  of  the 

.^^  V;  P'n"  ^°',  ^"  "^^  ^^'"^"rfs  of  the  new  life 
are  hterally  unknown  by  thousands  in  our  c  es 
and  villages,  tor  from  countless  pulpits  they  are 
simply  not  proclaimed.  In  their  place  we  Ce 
schemes  of  social  reform  advocated  as  the  solu- 
t^an  of  all  human  ills.  Mere  nostrums  of  sac  a- 
mentariamsm  are  offered  instead  of  the  uncon- 
d  tioned  Grace  of  God.    On  the  one  hand  a  sec  fon 

nel  of  H«  "■^'m'"'"^'  '*^^'^  '^'  ^''^'"^ive  chan- 
ne   of  Heavenly  blessing,  and  thereby  (with  ap- 

toChfi^^'Y  7.'^'°?>  1?'^^  '"'  °wn  relationshS 
to  Christ.  Another  frankly  forsakes  spiritual  aims 
and  espouses  political  causes,  as  being  most  likely 
to  bring  about  its  objectives.  Men  Ire  ur^ed  to 
"To' cLh  I^'^"'-^.*'' -•]-"  they  won't  do"iSead 
^1.        .u       •   "^^-'"^  ^^^y  w""-     In  many  the- 

bl T/h.^  '°r''^%°J  ^°^  ^^'  ^^'^  displaced 
by  the  deity  of  man.    The  authoritv  of  His  Word 

n.m.  Ti-k"''."™'"!''-  ^y  ^°'''^'  "i""^i^"i  in  the 
ceZn  U  '^^•/'"^  '*'  P'°^°""''  statements  con- 
cerning hiiman  destiny  are  invested  with  an  air  of 
interrogation  and  uncertainty.     The  Cross  has 


t.f- 


[ill 


62         THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

been  supplanted  as  the  pivot  on  which  the  mercy 
of  God  turns,  by  a  formless  idea  of  His  tolerance. 
The  Precious  Blood  is  unmentioned.  The  depth 
of  the  unspeakable  Sacrifice  by  which  the  world 
was  redeemed  is  lost  in  the  width  of  the  Divine 
good-nature.  Nothing  is  definite  now,  nor  certain 
afterward. 

I  am  not  attempting  mere  caricature,  for  the 
matter  is  altogether  too  serious  for  light-hearted- 
ness.  This  is  a  simple  statement  of  facts  as  they 
appear.  Can  it  be  wondered  at  that  under  such 
conditions  the  Faith  of  Christ  declines?  What 
conviction  of  sin  can  such  travesties  of  the  Gospel 
produce  ?  And  how  can  world-weary  and  sorrow- 
stricken  hearts  come  to  Him  of  Whom  they  have 
not  heard  ?  It  is  not  a  matter  of  surprise  that  so 
many  are  turning  to  systems  which  seem  to  offer 
more  solid  comfort  than  an  adulterated  and  emas- 
culated Gospel,  which  too  often  is  all  that  the 
Churches  have  to  oflfer.  This  is  indeed  their  hour 
and  the  power  of  darkness. 

But  is  not  the  professing  Church  largely  to 
blame  for  this?  Does  not  the  ultimate  res£onsi- 
bility  rest  upon  its  officers  who  teach  these  things, 
and  its  members  who  love  to  have  it  so?  And  do 
not  these  present  days — which  for  all  we  know 
may  be  the  ushering  in  of  the  Day  of  the  Lord 
— call  us  al)  to  honest  self-judgment  in  this  same 
respect?  For  implied  in  Christ's  searching  query 
is  the  solemn  truth  that  such  as  refuse  to  believe  in 
Him  gradually  lose  all  power  to  believe ;  and  allied 


"WILL  HE  FLVD  FAITH?"  63 

to  it  is  the  strange  saying  that  the  light  by  which 
some  are  content  to  live  is  but  darkness. 

Ill 

Are  we  to  rest  satisfied  with  things  as  they  are' 
Can  we  justify  the  faith  that  is  in  us  except  by 
devotion  to  its  high  tasks?  In  the  irrefutable 
fonnula  of  Archbishop  VVhately :  "  If  our  faith  is 
false  we  are  bound  to  renounce  it.  If  it  is  true  we 
are  bound  to  propagate  it !  "  And  never  was  there 
a  time  when  the  need  was  greater  or  the  conditions 
more  propitious.  The  thousands  in  our  country 
who  are  living  in  what  is  virtually  heathen  dark- 
ness can  only  be  reached  by  a  determined  forward 
movement  on  the  part  of  the  whole  Church. 

"  Give  us  a  watchword  for  the  hour, 
A  thrilling  word,  a  word  of  power; 
A  battle  cry,  a  flaming  breath 
That  calls  to  conquest  or  to  death : 
A  word  to  rouse  the  Church  from  rest 
To  heed  the  Master's  high  behest. 
The  call  is  given ;  ye  hosts  arise ! 
Our  watchword  is  Evangeline! 

"  The  glad  Evangel  now  proclaim 
Through  all  the  earth  in  Jesus'  Name; 
This  word  is  ringing  through  the  skies 
Evangelize!    Evangelise! 
To  dying  men,  a  fallen  race, 
Make  known  the  gift  of  Gospel  Grace; 


r'-M" 


u 


V"v; 


64         THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

The  world  that  now  in  darkness  lies 
Evangelise!    Evangelise! " 

I  make  no  plea  for  any  largely-advertised  Mis- 
sion efforts,  with  their  costly  machinery  for  secur- 
ing some  semblance  of  united  interest,  their 
frsquently  undesirable  features,  and  their  ques- 
tionable permanent  good  in  any  community.  For 
it  is  the  undisguised  misgiving  of  many — which 
I  also  share — that  the  abiding  result  of  such  efforts 
is  frequently  altogether  out  ot  proportion  to  the 
expenditure  involved,  and  the  dislocation  of 
ordinary  Christian  work  entailed.  The  call  of 
the  hour  is  rather  to  individual  Christians  to 
face  their  own  obligation  in  the  light  of  Christ's 
Coming.  If  this  necessitates  personal  self-scrutiny 
as  to  the  Faith  on  the  part  of  some  who  have 
unconsciously  drifted  from  early  assurances  and 
enthusiasms,  let  there  be  open  return  and  renewed 
allegiance.  Who  can  doubt  that  such  a  move- 
ment of  sincere  individuals  would  soon  quicken 
dead  churches,  and  cause  ministries  which 
have  become  sapless  to  be  bright  and  fruitful 
again?  Men  will  certainly  come  to  Christ  when 
He  is  faithfully  uplifted ;  while  those  by  whom  He 
is  uplifted  will  experience  a  strengthening  of  faith 
in  the  work  of  soul-winning,  which  nothing  else 
can  ever  give.  Shall  we  not  as  those  who  call 
Him  Lord  clear  ourselves  of  complicity  in  the 
present  state  of  things? 


J*a 


VIII 
LIFE'S  TRUE  VIEW-POINT 

A  MAN'S  conception  of  life  largely  shaoes 
more  efSa    e'^;iiaTi;  dT "T*'  T'""^  '^ 

"  UW     \     !.'  ""^  P°''*'°"  °f  'hose  who  say 

are  altogether  assured   of  our  own  security  ^.^ 
Chnst.    However  dark  the  day  may  be  for  others 
we  have  an  ,nner  brightness  which  forbTds  fea  ' 

Such  h?"  *'"'  ''  r'  '"^^"y  °"^  '=°"«™  at  a    •'■ 
Such  become  so  absorbed  in  their  own  spiritual 

On  the  other  hand,  there  is  the  purely  human 

war,  ,  s  entail  of  sorrow  and  sufferine   and  th^ 
unspeakable  horror  of  hostile  forces  t  contes 
for  mastery  ,n  a  world  made  for  the  glory  o 
God.     Beyond  question,  danger  to  us  all  lies  in 
65 


66 


THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 


1'^ 


the  adoption  of  either  of  these  viewpoints  to  tlie 
exclusion  of  the  other.  The  believer  must  seek, 
with  Paul,  to  sit  "in  Heavenly  places  in  Christ 
Jesus."  But  at  the  same  time  he  must  also,  with 
Ezekiel,  descend  to  sit  with  the  captives  by  the 
river  Chebar. 

Paul's  conception  of  the  work  of  Christ  is,  in 
part  at  least,  that  it  gives  men  a  new  elevation 
from  which  to  consider  life.  Of  course  there  is 
infinitely  more  in  this  great  word  of  his.  But  this 
it  certainly  declares :  that  when  a  man  is  laid  hold 
of  by  Christ,  and  becomes  united  to  Him  by  faith, 
he  ascends  with  Him  to  Heavenly  heights,  and 
sees  life  thence,  not  merely  in  its  often  perplexing 
detail,  but  in  the  grand  design  of  an  overruling 
God.  Isaiah  anticipated  this  very  thing  when  he 
encouraged  men  to  wait  upon  the  Lord  that  they 
might  mount  up  with  wings  as  eagles.  And  both 
unite  in  making  it  abundantly  plain  that  all  such 
experience  of  elevation  is  but  preparation  for  active 
fellowship  in  the  affairs  of  the  valley.  The 
sacrament  of  communion  with  the  Ascended  Lord 
equips  His  disciples  for  the  sacrifice  of  self- 
interest  in  the  service  of  human  need.  Those  who 
mount  up  must  in  turn  descend  to  run  with  zeal 
and  courage  upon  errands  of  mercy,  and  to  walk 
without  fainting  amid  the  common  trials  and  tests 
of  earth.  What  we  need  most  of  all  to-day  is, 
to  combine  the  conception  of  Paul  with  the  ex- 
perience of  Ezekiel — that  is,  to  realize  the  fulness 
of  our  redemption  in  Christ;  and,  thus  inspired,  to 


LIFE'S   TRUE   VIEW-POLVT  t^ 

giv^ouvselves  to  the  service  of  our  fellows  in  His 


The  true  order  of  faith  >    not  that  we  have  to 

earth     Thl  ^  "T'"'>'  "^"  ^^'"^  ^  ^'^^  to 

earth  The  common  idea  is,  that  by  developing 
a  certam  kmd  of  character  here,  men  are  ore 

Cnd'f  7"T%"^^  °^  =^-'«  -d  -"S 
the  Christian  Church  in  these  days  of  cryine  need 
>s  to  be  traced  to  this  misconception.    IsTmatter 

t°rue  lil''^  u^  ^"'^'"^"'  declaration  is  that" 
true  hfe  is  Heaven-derived.    It  is  a  gift   offered 

iTtedT^K^r  '"^  *^™^  °f  ^^i^"-  '°  be  trans' 

of  self^sacrfi  ""*  '"''"y^'  '^^°''°"  '"to  t"«s 
or  seit-sacrificing  service. 

This  is  declared  and  manifested  in  Christ  Him- 
self. It  was  as  the  Man  of  Heaven  that  He  lived 
among  men.    In  Him  the  ener^  of  SonshiV was 

Se  ±™  .J"l°  '^f  ^"*^^P"=^  °f  Saviourhood. 
He  came  with  the  life  and  love  of  God-and  then 

n  ''^n*'','  "P"^^'  ^^*-  ^"id  the  lepers,  the 
poor  the  broken-hearted,  the  strugglers.  And  He 
sa  there,  not  as  spectator,  but  as  pfrtaker  oMhS 
gnefs  and  sorrows.  In  all  things  it  behoved  Him 
to  be  made  like  unto  His  brethren,  that  he  migh^ 

them.  It  is  impossible  to  read  the  record  of  that 
hfe  without  realizing  that  He  is  at  once  a  Man 


^r^jiir^'  mn 


68 


THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 


lf{- 


Who  sits  in  Heavenly  places  in  unbroken  fellow- 
ship with  the  Father,  and  Who  dwells  among  the 
people  in  the  drab  places  of  their  captivity,  to  help, 
to  heal,  and  to  bless  them. 

We  are  often  content  to  regard  ourselves  as 
Christian  because  we  hold  to  certain  beliefs  or 
observe  conventional  forms.  If  these  present  days 
have  done  nothing  else,  they  have  sifted  and 
judged  all  such  self-deception,  revealing  the  un- 
worthiness  and  insufficiency  of  mere  external  pro- 
fession of  Christ.  They  have  given  a  new  em- 
phasis to  the  Evangel,  recalling  us  to  the  fact  that 
according  to  Christ's  teaching  and  example  a  man 
is  a  Christian  only  when  he  is  united  to  Him  in 
this  twofold  relationship — toward  God  and  men. 
He  alone  is  a  Christian  of  the  New  Testament  type 
who  sits  in  Heavenly  places  in  the  fellowship  of 
a  son,  and  at  the  same  time  lives  here  among  men 
as  their  servant  for  Christ's  sake. 


The  strongest  solvent  of  *'ie  varied  human  diffi- 
culties with  which  Christ's  servants  have  to  deal 
is  sympathy.  By  this  is  not  meant  an  affected 
interest  in  the  affairs  of  others,  after  the  fashion 
of  the  siiperficial  person  who  has  an  ear  for  every 
man's  concerns,  and  a  heart  for  none  but  his  own. 
It  is  the  product  of  a  twofold  intercourse — with 
God  and  men.  It  is  at  once  derived  in  the 
Sanctuary,  and  distilled  from  life's  experiences. 
It  pervades  the  garments  of  the  man  who  habitu- 


LIFE'S  TRUE  VIEW-POINT  60 

ally  sits  in  Heavenly  places  with  the  odour  of 
myrrh,  and  aloes,  and  cassia;  and,  when  sincere  it 
rarely  fails  of  its  healing  mission.     Indeed  it  is 
the  faculty  of  feeling  as  others  feel  because  we  see 
as  they  see.     It  is  the  instinct  of  weeping  with 
those  who  weep,  and  of  rejoicing  unselfishly  with 
those  who  rejoice.     Ezekiel  had  never  been  the 
prophet  he  was,  nor  uttered  the  message  he  spoke 
had  he  not  sat  where  he  did  with  the  captives 
l-or  identification  with  the  sins  and  temptations 
of  others  most  surely  enables  us  to  help  them  in 
regard  to  the   fundamental   and   abiding  things 
We  may  destroy  men  by  influence  exerted  dis- 
tantly; but  they  cannot   be  healed   save  by  the 
human  touch  of  one  who  sits  where  they  sit     In 
military  metaphor:  The  artillery  can  belch  forth 
Its  hellish  destruction    from   many  miles  away 
but  the  Red  Cross  man,  whose  mission  is  to  bind 
up  and  save  broken  lives,  must  get  close  to  them 
at  any  cost  to  himself. 

To  this  fact  th.  astory  of  all  great  service 
bears  witness.  It  «  as  as  Peter  the  Great  of  Russia 
sat  in  the  squalid  cottages  of  the  moujik-coming 
thither  from  his  throne,  that  he  was  able  to  carry 
out  the  noble  changes  eflFected  in  that  empire. 
Elizabeth  Fry,  <lescending  from  the  refinements 
and  pieties  of  a  lovely  home  to  sit  in  the  pestilential 
prison  of  Newgate,  not  only  lifted  the  prisoners 
into  something  of  her  own  Christian  experience 
but  ultimately  made  certain  also  the  reform  of 
prison  law  in  the  direction  of  humanity  and  jus- 


I 


mk-^mmammsmkik^i&Mar '  ^  inB 


70 


THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 


tice.  And  all  great  missionaries — David  Brainerd, 
James  Gilmour,  William  Carey,  Adoniram  Jud- 
son,  David  Livingstone,  Hudson  Taylor,  and  a 
host  of  others — have  accomplished  their  life-work 
only  on  this  wise.  They  sat  with  Christ  in 
Heaven,  and  with  the  captives  in  dark  heathen- 
dom. And  such  sympathy  as  theirs  can  not  be 
simulated.  It  is  never  the  product  of  human 
energy,  but  always  the  gift  of  Divine  Grace,  free 
to  all  who  will  climb  the  Mount  of  God  by  the 
only  pathway. 

Ill 
Many  are  talking  about  what  will  happen  when 
the  War  is  over  and  the  period  of  reconstruction 
sets  in.  And  it  is  no  attempt  at  prophecy  to  say 
that  one  of  the  values  of  this  terrible  time  is  that 
it  is  making  the  men  who  bear  its  brunt  know 
each  other  as  never  before.  Yonder  in  the  trenches 
rich  and  poor  are  sitting  close,  waiting  for  death 
or  for  the  opportunity  of  dealing  together  a  death- 
blow at  organized  unrighteousness.  And  in  those 
surroundings  where  artificial  distinctions  vanish, 
they  are  coming  to  have  mutual  understanding  and 
respect  for  one  another.  When  the  War  is  over, 
and  a  new  era  of  peace  begins,  things  can  never 
be  in  this  respect  as  they  have  been  in  our  land. 
Class  prejudices  which  hitherto  have  divided 
patrician  from  plebeian,  labour  from  capital,  will 
have  gone  for  ever.  For  which  God  be  thanked! 
Mutual  sympathy  is  being  generated  which,  in 
days  to  come,  will  be  the  inspiration  of  mutual 


LIFE'S   TRUE   VIEW-POINt  71 

must  lead  he  way.  From  the  Heavenly  places 
of  h,s  privilege  he  mn.t  come  down  to  the  lowest 
depth  of  earth  s  need,  diffusing  the  verv  svmpathv 
of  Him  W  ho  was  at  once  rich  and  poor,  the  Lord 
of  Glory  a  .d  the  Man  of  Galilee 

The  only  preparation   and   dvnamic    for   such 
contact    w-ith    earth    is    separation    unto    c;od 

i!^r"u^,^"^''"  "'  ""'  «^'"'"^  «"P«  as  weights 
which  hold  us  down  are  cast  aside    and  cables 
which  bind  us  to  things  material  and  earthly  arc 
cut.     And  It  is  there,  and  there  alone,  in  fellow- 
ship   with    rhrist.    that    the    double    miracle    of 
elevated  vision  and  elevate<l  motive  is  wrought 
How  necessary  this  is,  is  the  consciousness  of  all 
who  know  by  experience  anything  of  the  elusive- 
ness  of  motives  merely  i:,spired  by  the  sight  of 
sorrow  and  human  suflFering.    These  may,  indeed, 
call  forth  transient  emotions.     But  nothing  save 
the  Spirit  of  Christ  can  purify  the  heart  of  its 
evil,  and    o  secure  us  against  the  danger  of  be- 
coming infected  by  the  very  things  which  destroy 
the  lives  of  those  we  would  fain  help.    Only  hy 
sitting  with  Him  can  we  be  saved  from  Ic   i 
heart,  as  we  catch  the  vision  which  reveals  God 
a   work  through  all  earth's  changes,  and  from  the 
fitfulness  which  renders  service  worthless  by  the 
reinforcement  of  His  own  steadfastness 

Life  is  for  us  all  a  great  mission.  But  we  shall 
miss  Its  meaning  and  opportunity  if  we  fail  to 
regard  it  from  this  double  view-point. 


IX 
STANDING  ON  THE  OTHER  SIDE 

"In  Ike  day  thai  thou  stoodesl  on  the  olhtr  side"— 
OlADiAB  i:  II. 

ATTEMPTED  neutrality  in  moral  issues  is 
f\    assured  condemnation.     When  all  life  is 
vibrant  with  the  voice  of  high  challenge, 
it  is  the  undying  shame  of  any  man  that  he  main- 
tains unmoved  an  attitude  of  passive  unconcern. 

To  be  a  mere  spectator  of  strenuous  deed^,  a 
looker-on  while  others  labour,  a  critic  of  the 
courage  of  those  who,  taking  up  the  gage  of  battle, 
"resist  unto  blood,  striving  against  sin,"  is  the 
last  infamy  of  which  any  can  be  guilty.  And  yet 
there  are  many  in  our  midst  whose  general  bear- 
ing toward  the  great  events  which  are  all  around 
us  is  simply  that  of  more  or  less  interested  on- 
lookers. 

We  have  seen  them  in  quieter  days  among  the 
young  men  who.  avoiding  even  the  eflFort  and 
discipline  of  playing  games,  were  content  to  look 
on  while  paid  athletes  played  for  their  benefit; 
and  who  are  now  satisfied  that  others  should  fight 
and  die  for  them  while  they  read  at  ease  of  their 
exploits.  We  have  recognized  them  in  the  men 
who,  from  the  comfort  of  established  position, 
73 


STANDING  ON  OTHER  SIDE  73 

have  not  hesitated  to  pas-  . dverse  iudornon,  . 

schemes  and  policies  di ,        Judgment  upon 

the  lot  of  .hrl  '        ■  '°"'^'"'  ameliorating 

inc  lot  ot  the  poor,  t  u:  ,,v-at((l     n,i  ti,»  a 

personal   and   domest  c     r     ,,f,  '.        7",  ^^1'^ 

b-do;  their  o.ii,i;^:::n;:„^jtJc:^ 

W3«J  Swin  "Ih  "f  "'""^  -'^•"'^ele  which  is  being 
waged  between  the  hosts  of  sin  and  the  forces  of 
Cod  >n  our  own  land  and  in  the  Regions  Beyond 
s.mply  does  not  touch  them.     They  are  not  an 

difftf  ■  l^'""  ^^"'"ff  °f  unconcerned  in- 

difference, or  at  best  of  but  half-awakened  reco^ 
n.t.on,  .s  an  entire  contradiction  of  the  f^th  thfy" 
profess,  goes  without  saying.  Of  this,  however 
they  are  ^premely  uncon=:iovs  a.  J  care  e,°  And 
■f  the  cal  of  these  present  daj-s  does  nJt  awaten 
hem  ,t  ,s  difficult  to  see  how  a.d  whence  their 
awakening  can  come.  For  the  nessa«  of  Z 
hour,  preached  by  3  thousand  s'rll^    ■ 

that  this  -ookingron  attS'toVaTd^rfr  J,;: 


•r  W^ 


*v  ■ 


"■■| 


;^  >KM 


i 


74         THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

disaster.  The  Church  and  the  Nation  alii<e  must 
be  aroused  to  the  critical  issues  which  confront  us, 
or  it  will  be  too  late  to  discuss  remedies.  And  in 
this  every  one  of  us  is  concerned.  For  it  is 
primarily  an  individual  matter. 

The  prophecy  of  Obadiah  is  in  the  form  of  a 
strong  indictment  against  the  children  of  Edom 
for  this  very  thing.  Judah  and  Jerusalem  were 
in  dire  peril  and  mortal  conflict.  Strangers  had 
invaded  and  overrun  the  land  in  such  strength 
that  the  fall  of  the  city  was  imminent.  The 
Edomites,  the  record  of  whose  peculiar  relation- 
ship with  Israel  forms  a  large  part  of  the  minor 
prophecies  of  the  Old  Testam  r.t,  were,  however, 
entirely  indifferent  to  the  call  uf  need.  Instead 
of  going  to  the  help  of  the  weak  and  beleaguered 
people,  they  simply  stood  on  the  other  side,  content 
to  do  nothing  beyond  looking-on.  And  the  scathing 
words  of  the  Prophet  in  regard  to  them  are  full  of 
meaning  and  warning : — "  For  thy  violence  against 
thy  brother  Jacob,  shame  shall  cover  thee,  and 
thou  Shalt  be  cut  off  for  ever.  In  the  day  that 
thou  stoodest  on  the  other  side,  in  the  day  that 
the  strangers  carried  away  captive  his  forces,  and 
foreigners  entered  into  his  gates,  and  cast  lots 
upon  Jerusalem,  even  thou  zvast  as  one  of  them." 
In  the  final  judgment  of  those  days  and  events, 
Edom  was  numbered  among  the  foes  of  God's 
people.  Her  passivity  in  face  of  the  call  to  coura- 
geous action  declared  her  quality,  and  fixed  her 
doom.    She  was  visited  in  wrath  by  God  because 


jm-. 


ii 


'•^J 


STANDING  ON  OTHER  SIDE  76 

of  her  sin  of  unfulfilled  responsibility— for  doine 
nothing  more  than  standing  on  the  other  side  at 
a  sate  distance,  when  every  instinct  should  have 
urged  to  self-sacrificing  share  in  the  conflict.  And 
who  shall  say  that  this  state  of  things  and  its 
certain  Nemesis  is  not  contemporary  in  this  our 
own  age? 


It  is  always  difficult  to  analyze  the  attitude  of 
the  present-day   Edomite,   and   to  discover   the 
factors  of  his  indifference  to  the  cause  of  God  in 
the  world.     Yet  it  is  at  least  safe  to  say  that  one 
potent  reason  for  his  condemnation  is  his  absorp- 
tion in  concerns  which  have  little,  if  any,  relation 
to  his  first  obligation.    In  the  main  he  stands  "  on 
the  other  side  "  because,  despite  his  Church  mem- 
bership and  his  mental  assent  to  the  truths  and 
implicates  of  the  Gospel,  his  heart  is  on  the  other 
side.     He  is,  for  instance,  far  more  concerned  in 
the  rise  and  fall  of  markets  than  in  the  progress 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God.      The  one  to  him  is 
at  least  real,  while  the  other  is  visionary  and  of 
little  consequence.     His  controlling  ideals  of  good 
are  connected   with   material   acquisitions.      Nor 
does  he  intend  for  a  moment  that  his  personal 
interests  should  be  jeopardized  by  participation 
in  moral  struggles. 

The  mere  idea  of  sacrificing  "things  on  the 
earth  "  for  "  the  things  that  are  above  "  appeals 
to  him  only  as  the  quixotism  of  a  fanatic,  to  be 


f\ 


76        THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

tolerated  but  never  emulated.  Enthusiasms  in 
regard  to  business,  politics,  sport,  or  social  ad- 
vancement, he  can  well  understand.  Of  these, 
indeed,  he  is  always  capable.  But  a  spiritual 
interpretation  of  life  he  deems  folly.  His  mind  has 
become  utterly  confused  as  to  true  values  by 
reason  of  his  obsession  regarding  the  worth  of  the 
so-called  good  things  of  this  life.  Selfishness  has 
stealthily  grown  upon  him,  until  now  he  has  be- 
come practically  incapable  of  response  to  the 
claims  of  humanity  and  of  God.  So  he  stands 
"  on  the  other  side,"  even  when  the  Trumpet  of 
God  sounds  through  the  land,  thrilling  every  true 
heart  with  the  prospect  of  battle  and  victory  under 
Him  they  love. 

Such  men  within  the  Church  are  an  infinitely 
greater  menace  to  her  true  life  than  are  the  avowed 
enemies  at  the  gate.  They  are  the  modern  suc- 
cessors of  the  Priest  and  the  Levite  whose  eternal 
shame  is  that  they  stood  and  passed  by  "  on  the 
other  side,"  while  on  this  side  was  a  bruised  and 
broken  life  calling  for  human  aid.  Who  has  not 
known,  indeed,  some  of  this  order  who  have  sought 
to  justify  themselves  by  pious  utterances  about 
■'  faith  " — to  the  belittling  of  "  works  "  ?  To  such 
there  is  but  one  ansvifer.  It  is  that  such  reasoning 
is  either  an  entire  misconception  of  the  nature  of 
faith,  or  is  wilful  insincerity.  Most  often  in  such 
cases  there  is  only  too  much  cause  to  suspect  the 
latter.  I'pon  their  moral  and  spiritual  lukewarm- 
ness,  which  has  nothing  whatever  in  common  with 


STANDING  ON  OTHER  SIDE  77 

true  discipleship,  the  ascended  Christ  has  declared 
unfailing  judgment.  The  reprobation  and  end  of 
I^odicean  and  Edomite  alike  is  never  a  matter  of 
uncertainty.  Those  who  stand  "on  the  other 
side  "  in  this  day  of  urgent  necessity  are,  by  every 
law  of  God  and  right,  determining  their  own 
destiny  on  the  other  side  of  the  great  fixed  gulf. 
Their  portion  is  with  the  enemies  of  the  Cross  of 
Christ. 


The  peril,  however,  of  the  "  other  side  "  attitude 
toward  life  is  not  only  that  of  ultimate  retribu- 
tion, but  of  present  deterioration  also.  For  it  puts 
men  hopelessly  out  of  touch  with  reality.  To  be 
altogether  concerned  about  one's  own  ease  and 
well-being,  even  when  a  religious  meaning  is  given 
to  these  terms— or  even  that  of  one's  own  family, 
as  the  manner  of  some  is— is  to  fail  both  of  under- 
standing and  of  realization  in  regard  to  the  true 
purpose  of  life.  We  are  members  one  of  another. 
It  has  pleased  God  to  make  the  human  family  a 
solidarity.  No  man  can  live  unto  himself  except 
by  forfeiture  of  his  birthright.  The  world  which 
such  men  create  for  themselves,  ami  into  which 
nothing  of  disturbance  with  their  own  interests  is 
permitted  to  intrude,  may  be  fair  and  easeful. 
But  it  is  not  the  real  world;  and  sooner  or  later 
those  who  have  shaded  their  eves  from  life's  in- 
sistent facts,  and  turned  their  ear*  from  its 
clamant  calls,  become  positively  blind  and  deaf. 


78         THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

The  wages  of  sin  is  more  sin,  and  yet  more;  until 
actual  atrophy  of  misused  and  disused  faculties 
takes  place. 

Any  one  who  habitually  stands  "  on  the  other 
side  "  m  re^rd  to  the  Lord's  conflicts  inevitably 
loses  the  power  of  seeing  what  is  happening  across 
the  road,  or  of  hearing  the  voice  of  need  which 
stanmons  others  to  service.  Henceforth  for  him 
life  has  shrunken  to  the  dimensions  of  his  own 
-iwtraged  capacities.  He  bears  in  himself  the 
P^alty  of  his  calculated  indifference.  He  has 
succeeded  in  deforming  himself  from  a  God- 
created  to  a  self-made  man. 

Ill 
It  follows  that  such  an  one,  bv  his  studied 
avoidance  of  obligation,  makes  anything  like  fel- 
lowship with  God  impossible.  For  God  Himself 
IS  unceasing  activity  in  presence  of  human  sin  and 
need.  This  indeed  is  the  whole  record  of  the 
Gospel— that  when  the  world  rushed  headlong  to 
destruction  in  wilful  sin,  He  did  not  stand  on  the 
other  side  a  passive  spectator  of  the  tragedy.  He 
saw,  an.l  pitied,  and  came  to  the  rescue— in  His 
Son.  i\ur  during  those  redeeming  years  of  His 
earthly  life  did  He  ever  stand  on  the  other  side, 
remote  from  human  affliction  and  sorrow.  In  all 
points  He  was  tempted  as  all  men  are  tempted.  He 
acquainted  Himself  with  grief  and  loneliness,  and 
suffered  the  varied  experiences  of  the  common 
lot.     And  the  supreme  e-xpression  and  pledge  of 


w-  %. 


STANDING  ON  OTHER  SIDE  79 

His  close  kinship  with  those  who  suffer  and  strive 
IS  the  Cross.  Such  an  R vangel  as  Calvary  pro- 
claim^a  call  to  life-giving  and  hfe-sharing  union 
with  Him-has  literally  no  meaning  for  the  man 
whois  content  to  stand  on  the  other  side  except 
as  the  measure  of  his  opportunity  and  of  his 
condemnation. 

Herein,  then,  is  the  blood-guiltiness  of  the 
supine,  the  indifferent,  the  mere  spectator  of  God's 
warfare  agamst  the  hosts  of  wickedness.  Stripped 
of  every  false  profession,  every  excuse,  and  every 
subterfuge,  the  bare  fact  is  that  he  is  not  on  God's 

Tw,  ,I°,/^^''''"  '''^''^  "^'^^  him  "Come! 
Abide !  Follow !  he  responds  by  remaining  where 
he  is-  on  the  other  side."  That  Christ  and  His 
people  march  together  in  the  greatness  of  His 
strength,  to  the  liberation  of  the  captive  and  the 
righting  of  th.  vrung,  is  nothing  tu  him  beyond  a 
spectacle  of  languid  intere.q.  An<i  in  withholding 
himself  from  the  battle-service  of  the  King  he 
writes  himself  down  as  of  [lis  foes 

Let  us  earnestly  take  heed  unto  ourselves  in  this 
very  thing.     And  let  us  do  so  to-day 


X 


"  HE  WOULD  NOT  FOR  A  WHILE  " 
"tie  would  not  for  a  while:' — Luke  xviii:4. 

ONE  of  the  most  perplexing  of  life's  ex- 
periences is  the  frequency  of  delay  in  the 
Divine  answering  of  prayer.  There  is 
nothing  to  which  men  are  so  fully  encouraged  by 
direct  promises  of  the  Word  of  God  as  in  bring- 
ing their  recjuests  to  the  Throne  of  Grace.  Yet 
there  is  nothing  so  completely  mystifying  as  the 
apparent  contradiction  so  i>''ten  encountered  be- 
tw^^en  their  experiences  and  ts*  Divine  assurances 
in  thi?  respect.  Some  have  been  sri  discouraged 
because  »he  Kingdom  prayed  :or  did  not  im- 
mediately appear  that  they  gav^  up  praymg  en- 
tirely' Others,  unable  to  reconcile  tb*:ir  disap- 
pointment with  their  so  well-fimnded  hope,  have 
concluded  that  God  is  indiflfererit  to  their  pravers, 
and  have  ii:  consequence  denied  their  allegiance 
and  deserted  His  caiae!  Besides  these  are  manv 
silent  souls  whcse  faitfa  is  strained  almost  to  break- 
ing-point by  the  diffi(  -Jty  of  maintaining  belief  jn 
God's  iove  and  ;x)wer  n  lace  cf  the  still-deferreri 
answer  to  the  interc=:«.ion  of  irany  days.  Ther- 
sa-uggle  is  bravely  ^ect  ^ecret.  but  it  is  always 


•!*.,i' 


«  HE  WOULD  NOT  FOR  A  WHILE  "       81 

there,  and  their  lives  are  increasingly  full  of  dumb 
distress. 

Now  it  is  necessary  to  remind  all  such  that  God 
has  other  scales  for  the  measurement  of  time  than 
those  commonly  in  use  by  us.  There  is  a  purpose 
of  discipline  in  His  delays  which  is  directed  to 
the  highest  good  of  His  people,  and  which  cannot 
be  hurriedly  realized.  What  now  appears  to  them 
as  the  silence  of  God  they  will  yet  come  to  recog- 
nize as  His  wisest  and  kindest  speech.  When  to 
their  fervent  request  He  says :  "  Wait  " — as  He 
so  often  does — it  is  only  to  prepare  them  for  an 
answer  which  is  beyond  all  that  they  ask  or  think. 

The  parable  of  the  Unjust  Judge,  who  was 
induced  to  do  under  the  stress  of  an  embarrassing 
importunity  what  he  ivould  not  do  as  a  matter  of 
simple  justice,  is  not  in  any  sense  intended  to  serve 
as  a  complete  representation  of  God's  ways.  In- 
deed he  is  strikingly  unlike  Him  in  every  respect 
save  in  one  particular  of  conduct — his  delay  in 
answering  the  suppliant.  The  fact  that  Christ 
fastened  upon  this  as  an  illustrative  interpretation 
of  one  of  God's  methods  of  dealing  with  those  who 
call  upon  Him,  while  not  committing  us  to  any 
strained  explanation  of  the  story,  affords  us  an 
insight  into  what  is  to  many  the  greatest  difficulty 
of  life.  For  it  declares  that  something  akin  to 
slowness  is  to  be  looked  for,  sin>.e  it  is  with  God 
we  have  to  do.  There  is  a  good  deal  to  be  said 
for  the  faith  of  a  little  child,  which  by  reason  of 
its  unquestioning  strength  cannot  understand  the 


82 


THE  CONFIDENCE  OP  FAITH 


necessity  nor  brook  the  discipline  of  delay.  But 
there  is  a  good  deal  more  to  be  said  for  the  tested 
faith  of  .?  thrown  man,  who  is  content  to  tarry  the 
Lord's  '-'isure  in  the  confidence  that  neither  im- 
medi?.t :.';  nor  ultimately  can  He  deny  Himself.  It 
is  to  tiie  creation  and  development  of  such  faith 
that  all  Christ's  teaching  is  directed. 


There  are  some  prayers  that  are  at  all  times 
certain  of  immediate  answer.  The  sinner  who 
cries  for  pardon,  the  weary  and  heavy-laden  who 
asks  rest  of  heart,  the  lonely  who  seek  the  fellow- 
ship of  love,  are  never  kept  waiting  for  the  fulfil- 
ment of  their  desires.  The  prodigal  is  welcomed 
ere  ever  he  has  uttered  his  prepared  confession. 
The  sinking  man  who  cries  "  Lord,  save  me  "  is  at 
once  conscious  of  being  grasped  by  the  Hand  of 
power.  The  Evangel  of  Christ  bears  the  a^elesf 
superscription  that  "  Now  ii  the  day  of  Salvation," 
along  with  the  countless  seals  of  those  who  have 
attested  that  God  is  true.  It  is  the  faith  of 
thousands,  established  by  their  indubitable  ex- 
perience, which  sings  with  the  Monk  of  Marsaba: 

"  If  I  ask  Him  to  receiv  me, 
Will  He  say  me  "  Nay"? 
Not  till  earth  and  not  till  Heaven 

Pass  away! " 

Yet  this  fact  only  makes  the  delays  of  God  the 
harder  to  understand,  when  it  is  with  the  weight 


"  HE  WOULD  NOT  FOR  A  WHILE  "       88 

of  present  burdens,  the  weariness  of  immediate 
discomfort,  and  the  anxiety  of  future  uncertainty 
that  our  prayers  are  ciincerned.     Surely  He  Who 
gives  the  greatest  Gift  of  all  without  a  moment's 
waiting  will  not  do  k-ss  „,  regard  to  the  removal 
of  the  things  which  appear  to  conflict  with  our 
well-being,  and  the  bestowal  of  the  blessings  of 
which  we  know  ourselves  and  others  to  be  in  need  ? 
Let  it  be  said  at  once  that  God  is  infinitely  more 
concerned  with  the  upbuilding  of  the  character  of 
His  children  than   with  the   gratifying  of  their 
minds.      Well-intentioned    prayer   is   not   ahvays 
well-informed.    The  very  things  we  often  ask  for 
would,  if  granted  in  our  present  state,  prove  a 
moral  handicap,  and  be  the  forerunner  of  disaster. 
It  is  of  Divine  grace  that  we  "  have  not  "  when 
we  "ask  amiss."     I  have  known  children  com- 
pletely spoiled  by  the  weak  good-nature  ■■;  parents 
who  gave  to  them  at  once  everything  they  wanted. 
For  human  love  may  be  entirely  lacking  in  wis- 
dom.   But  the  love  and  wisdom  of  God  are  one. 
When  He  keeps  us  waiting  for  secondary  mercies, 
it  is  in  order  to  make  us  know  the  value  of  the 
primary  and  spiritual.     His  delays  are  not  indica- 
tions of  caprice,  but  of  compassion.     If  we  can 
but  wait  in  the  calm  confidence  that  "  your  Heav- 
enly Father  knoweth  what  things  ye  have  need  of 
before  ye  ask,"  we  shall  come  to  realize  the  un- 
trustworthiness  of  our  own  impulses,  and  to  sub- 
mit ourselves  gladly  to  the  freedom  of  His  grand 
control.    And  we  shall  see  that  while  seemingly 


>--ii?f^ 


84         THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

inactive,  God  has  all  the  time  been  working  in  us, 
bringing  us  into  a  moral  correspondence  with  His 
will,_which  alone  capacitates  us  to  receive  His 
gifts.  In  no  other  way  than  by  seeming  to  be 
unwilling  "  for  a  while,"  could  He  lead  us  to  the 
place  of  absolute  blessing.  It  is  after  His  people 
have  done  the  will  of  God  that  they  receive  the 
promise  by  faith  and  patience. 


The  knowledge  of  God,  which  is  the  foundation 
of  all  true  character,  is  not  a  sudden  acquisition 
so  much  as  a  steady  accumulation.  No  man  can 
gain  it  except  by  unhurried  waiting  on  Him.  The 
heights  of  His  will  are  not  to  be  scaled,  nor  its 
depths  sounded,  in  a  single  hour.  Nor  can 
He  be  interpreted  to  the  soul  by  any  isolated 
experience,  however  vivid.  The  steadying  confi- 
dence which  is  the  secret  of  every  strong  life  is 
never  the  growth  of  a  night.  When  men  hurry 
from  the  Sanctuary  almost  before  the  purport  of 
their  prayers  has  become  real  to  themselves,  they 
carry  away  but  a  confused  and  abstract  idea  of 
God,  which  is  entirely  inadequate  to  support  them 
in  the  s.rain  of  living.  And  it  is  for  this  reason 
that  their  requests  do  not  always  yield  immediate 
answer.  God  loves  us  far  too  well  not  to  make 
it  almost  impossible  for  us  to  rush  out  of  His 
presence  unblessed  by  our  approach  to  Him. 
Delay  in  His  response  to  our  petitions  binds  us  to 
Him  by  the  chain  of  our  very  needs. 


•  -     • 


•t^- 

,1.^.. 


"  HE  WOULD  NOT  FOR  A  WHILE  "      86 

You  have  seen  tourist  visitors  rushing  through 
the  rooms  of  a  picture  gallery  as  though  the  most 
desirable  thing  was  to  get  out  as  soon  as  oossible. 
Priceless  canvases  made  appeal  to  them  in  vain. 
All  that  they  could  possibly  carry  away  was  at 
best  a  mere  blurred  and  fast-fading  impression  of 
the  beauty  at  which  they  had  barely  glanced.  To 
speak  of  them  as  "  knowing "  any  one  of  the 
Masters  to  whose  wt.rk  they  paid  such  scant  at- 
tention would  be  to  degrade  language.  And  can 
God  really  be  known  of  those  who  treat  Him 
similarly?  As  a  matter  of  fact,  how  little  of  Him 
should  any  of  us  know  had  it  not  been  for  the 
discipline  of  delay  imposed  by  His  apparent  un- 
willingness to  answer  our  prayer?  For  it  is  by 
enforced  waiting  that  transformation  f  character, 
which  is  the  attestation  of  saving  knowledge,  is 
effected.  This  is  God's  way  of  fitting  His  people 
to  be  His  witnesses.  Endurance  and  radiance  are 
qualities  which  are  never  acquired  hastily. 

Does  this  shed  any  light  on  the  perplexing  delay 
we  are  experiencing  in  regard  to  the  answer  to  our 
prayer  for  the  Nation?  In  the  certainty  of  an 
altogether  righteous  cause  we  pray  for  victory 
which  shall  make  possible  a  true  and  lasting  peace. 
Why  does  God  not  put  forth  His  power  through 
our  Forces,  and  by  scattering  the  nations  that  de- 
light in  war  bring  this  unspeakable  strife  to  an 
end?  Why  have  we  had  no  answer  back  from 
Heaven  that  our  cry  is  heard?  Why  does  He 
delay  His  coming,  when  by  one  word  He  could 


.^,  ,v^, 


MICROCOPY    RESOLUTION    TEST   CHART 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


1.0     !irlB  IIIM 

^^      1^  1^     IIIII2.2 


I.I 


11.25    Hi  1.4 


II  2.0 
1.8 

1.6 


A  APPLIED  IN/MGE     In 

=^  '65J   East   Mom   Streel 

—  —  Rochester.   Ne-   Yorl.         1*609       USA 

'.^  ('16)   482 -0500  -  Phone 

^=  (716)    288  -  5989  -  Fo. 


86 


THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 


end  the  whole  conflict?  And  the  answer  comes 
that  surely  this  delay  is  both  our  discipline  and 
our  trial.  As  a  Nation  we  are  yet  far  from  being 
morally  ready  for  victory;  for  there  are  few,  if 
any,  signs  in  our  common  life  that  we  have  learned 
and  taken  to  heart  the  lessons  of  this  chastisement. 
Were  an  overwhelming  victory  to  be  granted  to 
us  immediately,  it  is  more  than  likely  that  it  would 
only  minister  to  the  worst  forms  of  our  national 
sins.  We  cannot  but  believe  that,  in  consonance 
with  this  His  way,  God  is  keeping  us  waiting  for 
the  answer  to  our  prayer,  in  order  to  bring  us  to 
true  repentance  and  genuine  humiliation.  But  in 
the  last  analysis  it  is  not  He  Who  delays  the 
answer  to  our  prayer  for  victory.  It  is  we  who 
delay  Him. 


lU 

Faith  is  only  trained  by  being  tested.  It  becomes 
strong  and  ultimately  invincible  only  by  being  sub- 
jected to  the  discipline  of  strain.  The  perplexing 
delays  therefore  in  which  God  frequently  expresses 
Himself  may  always  be  understood  as  being  di- 
rected toward  the  fullest  development  of  our  faith. 
For  until  we  accept  the  will  of  God,  not  imder 
compulsion  of  necessity  and  because  there  is  no 
alternative,  but  by  free  choice  and  glad  surrender, 
faith  is  lacking  in  essential  quality.  But  when  we 
are  unmoved  by  the  fact  that  we  are  kept 
waiting,  calmly  conscious  that  God's  glory  is 
intimately  bound  up  with  our  lives  and  prayers, 


"  HE  WOULD  NOT  FOR  A  WHILE  "       87 

and  content  that  if  He  can  afford  to  wait  so  too 
can  we,  one  of  life's  greatest  lessons  has  been 
learnt.  Faith  reaches  its  triumph  only  when  its 
exercise  ceases  to  be  a  deliberate  activity  and  be- 
comes an  instinctive  attitude.  A  man  is  'more 
than  conqueror '  when  he  is  entirely  satisfied  to 
wait  for  the  final  interpretation  of  God's  ways, 
and  for  the  ultimate  answer  to  his  own  prayers, 
until  the  hour  of  His  Sovereign  Pleasure  shall 
strike.  Such  an  one  cannot  be  touched  by  storm 
or  strife.  And  the  truth  of  God,  verified  in  him, 
will  inevitably  be  vindicated  through  him  before 
the  world. 

Let  us  wait  on  Him  then  with  unhurried  hearts. 
The  vision  that  tarries  will  yet  come.  And  how 
bright  will  be  its  dawning. 


XT 
STRENGTH  THROUGH  SORROW 

"  Thou  feedcst  them  with  the  bread  of  tears"— Vs/^LM 
Ixxx :  5. 

A  GREAT  deal  of  our  perplexity  at  the  un- 
toward happenings  of  hfe  arises  from, de- 
ficient perspective.  For  life  is  hl<e  a  picture 
whose  details  only  come  into  focus  as  we  stand 
back  from  the  canvas.  Its  ordered  harmony  can- 
not usually  be  perceived  until  time  has  softened 
the  asperities  which  appear  to  conflict  with  our 
present  ideas  of  good.  Then  we  come  to  under- 
stand that  what  seemed  to  us  calamity,  and  the 
overthrow  of  our  hopes,  was  in  reality  God's  way 
of  drawing  near  to  bless  us.  And  we  realize  that 
the  things  which  in  our  blindness  we  would  have 
avoided,  had  opportunity  served,  are  the  very 
things  we  could  have  afforded  least  to  miss. 

Just  now  it  may  well  be  that  we  hear  only  the 
peal  of  the  thunder,  although  in  reality  an  angel 
is  speaking.  Our  sluggish  apprehension  is  apt  to 
be  at  its  poorest  in  the  fourth  watch  of  the  night, 
and  it  is  our  very  fear  which  blinds  us  to  the  One 
Who  is  walking  toward  us  upon  the  waves  which 
threaten  us.  Yet  it  is  entirely  essential  to  our 
peace,  and  to  the  maintenance  of  faith,  that  we 
have  some  trustworthy  assurance  in  regard  to  our 
present  experiences.    If  we  can  but  know  that  they 


STRENGTH  THROUGH  SORROW        89 

are  part  of  the  unchanged  purpose  of  Divine  love, 
and  are  worlting  together  for  our  truest  goodi 
we  shall  abide  satisfied.  If  we  have  not  such 
assurance  which  cannot  be  shaken,  then  the  over- 
throw of  faith  cannot  be  long  warded  off. 

For  life  demands  explanation  to  those  who  have 
accustomed  themselves  to  believe  in  the  love  of 
God.  Its  facts,  seen  at  close  range,  often  seem 
too  strong  to  allow  such  a  theory  as  the  Divine 
care  and  control  of  individual  lives  to  stand  un- 
challenged. But  not  when  viewed  in  their  true 
perspective  and  relationship.  This  is  why  his- 
tory cannot  be  finally  written  in  the  generation 
it  records.  All  events  need  the  interpretation  of 
time  for  their  right  estimation,  .■^nd  of  none  is 
this  truer  than  of  those  which  concern  God  and 
the  individual.  Happy  is  that  man  who,  k-king 
back  upon  the  past,  sees  discipline  to-day  \s  re  at 
the  time  he  only  saw  disaster;  who  realizes  cleans- 
ing in  what  he  once  thought  was  consuming  fire; 
and  who  recognizes  that  he  has  been  fed  with  "  the 
bread  of  tears  "  at  the  King's  Table,  spread  for 
him  le  valley  of  sorrow  and  in  the  presence 

of  his    jps. 

Such  wa.s  the  confidence  of  the  man  who  more 
than  any  other  of  his  own  day  was  able  to  interpret 
the  experience  of  his  nation.  Through  frustrated 
purposes,  thwarted  plans,  and  blighted  hopes,  he 
saw  the  development  of  God's  high  purpose.  With 
the  vision  of  a  seer  he  discerned  that  the  people 
had  been  strengthened  by  these  very  things  which 


90 


THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 


at  the  time  brought  unspeakaljle  sorrow  upon  them. 
Human  tears  sometimes  mark  Divine  triumphs. 
Along  the  pathway  of  adversity  and  trouble,  Cod's 
people  have  in  every  age  been  led  to  new  endue- 
ments  of  character  which  could  have  been  acquired 
in  no  other  way.  The  Bread  of  Life  has  often 
been  ministered  to  them  as  the  bread  of  tears. 
And  in  the  discovered  meaning  of  iheir  experience 
we  may  find  interpretation  of  our  own. 


The  answers  to  our  prayers  are  sometimes  far 
different  from  our  expectations.  We  ask  for 
strength,  and  gladness,  and  freedom  from  burden, 
because  we  can  discern  no  higher  possible  good. 
And  we  ''  '  ourselves  disappointed  and  puzzled 
at  the  ■'f   new   sorrow  which   obliterates 

ever  'ne  care.    Has  God  forgotten 

to  b<.  's  His  promise  clean  gone  for 

even  ir  weakness  no  longer  make 

appeal  >.  '^se  are  the  reflections  which 

force  the. IS.  •.  us,  aiid  often  find  us  at  a 

disadvantage  witn  our  grief  new  upon  us,  and  our 
minds  under  its  sway.  In  such  an  hour  we  need 
to  call  to  mind  the  fact  that  our  thoughts  are  often 
too  small  and  too  earth-bound  for  God  to  have 
respect  to  them.  Our  horizon  is  altogether  too 
near,  our  Heaven  too  low.  Secondary  things  loom 
so  large  in  our  conceptions  of  good,  that  their 
spiritual  significance  's  lost  sight  of.  Well  it  is 
for  us  that  God  passes  all  our  prayers  through 


STRENGTH  THROIGH  SORROW        91 

the  refining  medium  of  His  own  wisdom,  and 
that  He  sends  us  larger  and  truer  answers  than 
we  have  ever  dreamed  of— even  though  those  same 
answers  bring  us  pain  and  tears  where  we  looked 
for  ease  and  joy. 

His  response  to  our  mistaken  conceptions  is 
always  directed  toward  the  strengthening  and  up- 
building of  character.  When  in  our  short-sight- 
edness we  fail  to  seek  "  first  the  Kingdom  "  in  our 
askmg,  His  answering  is  a  correction  of  our  for- 
getfiilness.  .^nd  although  for  a  season  we  are  in 
heaviness,  we  ultimately  come  to  acknowledge  that 
His  thought  is  wiser  than  ours,  as  the  Heavens 
are  higher  than  the  earth.  Faith  and  patience 
bring  to  every  man  a  complete  justification  of  His 
ways.  V\'e  learn  that  what  at  the  time  seemed 
unkindly  subtractions  were  generous  additions, 
and  that  what  appeared  to  be  His  unheeding  silence 
was  the  speech  of  His  love.  If  He  takes  away 
the  first,  we  see  after  a  while  that  it  was  in  order 
to  the  establishment  of  the  second— and  best. 

And  this  experience  brings  us  into  fellowship 
with  the  whole  Church.  These  same  afflictions 
are  being  accomplished  in  our  brethren  in  all  the 
world.  There  are  but  few  among  His  children 
who  cannot  say — 

"  Humbly  I  asked  of  God  to  give  me  joy, 
To  crown  my  life  with  blossoms  of  delight; 

I  prayed  for  happiness  without  alloy. 

Desiring  that  my  pathway  should  be  bright; 


92         THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

Prayerful,  I  sought  these  blessings  to  attain — 
And  now  I  thank  Him  that  He  gave  me  pain. 

I  asked  of  God  that  He  should  give  success 
To  the  high  task  I  sought  for  Him  to  do; 

I  asked  that  every  hindrance  might  grow  less. 
And  that  my  hours  of  weakness  might  be  few; 

I  asked  that  far  and  lofty  heights  be  scaled — 

And  now  I  meekly  thank  Him  that  I  failed. 

For  with  the  pain  and  sorrow  came  to  me 
A  dower  of  tenderness  in  act  and  thought; 

And  with  the  failure  came  a  sympathy. 

An  insight  which  success  had  never  brought. 

Father,  I  had  been  foolish  and  unlilest. 

If  Thou  hadst  granted  me  my  Wind  request." 

Blessed  indeed  is  he  who  eats  bread  in  the  King- 
dom of  God,  even  though  it  be  the  bread  of  tears ! 


In  the  realm  of  character — the  one  enduring 
reality  of  life — development  is  only  secured,  in 
part  at  least,  by  affliction.  We  can  readily  sum- 
mon a  host  of  witnesses  from  the  pages  of  history 
to  attest  this,  but  their  testimony  is  really  unneces- 
sary to  our  establishment  in  this  present  truth. 
For  each  has  in  his  own  life  irrefutable  proof  that 
this  is  so.  And  each  has  abundant  opportunity 
for  corrobation  by  observation  of  the  lives  of 
others.  We  are  all  able  to  recall  some  quite  ordi- 
nary individual,  bright,  complacent,  apt  to  be  self- 


STRENGTH  THKOUGH  SORROW        93 

centred  and  careless  of  the  claims  of  others,  who 
was  suddenly  transformed  by  an  unexpected  sor- 
row. Out  of  the  summer  sky  the  bolt  fell  which 
darkened  his  life— the  loss  of  a  loved  one,  the 
failure  of  a  bank,  the  verdict  of  a  physician.  And 
in  that  hour  his  eyes  were  opened  to  the  great 
realities.  He  began  to  seek  and  find  God.  The 
latent  moral  and  spiritual  potentialities  of  his  being 
began  to  assert  themselves.  Affliction  did  for  him 
what  unmixed  prosperity  could  never  do.  He 
began  to  live.  And  in  his  course  we  each  see  our 
own. 

The  unclouded  glare  of  the  .sunshine  soon 
.'corches  a  land.scape  and  destroys  its  verdant  life. 
It  needs  the  wind  and  the  rain  and  the  biting  frost 
of  winter,  as  well  as  the  warmth  of  summer,  to 
make  a  fruitful  field.  And  so  it  is  in  the  life  of 
a  man  or  a  nation.  Adversity  and  trouble  quicken 
perception,  challenge  courage,  and  awaken  energy, 
as  ease  can  never  do.  It  is  thus  by  such  ir^tru- 
ments  that  God  works  toward  the  development 
of  the  true  man  within  us  all.  The  bread  of  tears, 
and  the  bitter  herbs,  must  be  eaten  along  with  the 
Paschal  Lamb,  if  the  pilgrims  are  to  be  strength- 
ened for  their  pilgrimage.  And  each  of  them  is  a 
better  man  for  his  weeping. 

This  is  an  interpretation  of  God's  dealings  with 
our  Nation  in  these  days.  But  are  we  learning  His 
lessons?  Is  Britain  yet  low  enough  before  Him? 
Are  we  yet  weaned  from  irreverence  and  mateiial- 
ism  and  worldliness  ?  Or  are  vanity  and  luxury  and 


94 


THE  CONFIUKNCE  OF  FAITH 


carelessness — the  things  which  to  the  observant 
eye  have  been  spelling  ruin  to  our  land  for  a  long 
time — merely  suspended  under  stress?  Have  we 
yet  been  quickened  into  a  new  life  of  humble  faith 
and  common  dependence  upon  God,  or  are  we 
merely  galvanized  into  momentary  concern  for  our 
national  safety?  These  arc  the  (|ucstions  which 
press  upon  us  all.  They  are  far  beyond  those  of 
material  ttficiei  cy  in  importance;  and  the  respon- 
sibility of  answer  rests  in  part  with  each  of  us. 
If  Britain's  attitude  toward  God  is  right  in  this 
fiery  trial,  there  shall  emerge  from  it  a  new  nation, 
girt  with  a  moral  and  spiritual  strength  we  have 
never  yet  possessed,  for  tlie  carrying  out  of  His 
will  amongst  the  nations  of  the  earth.  And  that 
strength  which  comes  through  sorrow  is  enduring. 
Those  who  enter  the  Kingdom  through  much 
tribulation,  whether  they  be  men  or  nations,  know 
the  full  meaning  of  their  citizenship. 


Let  us  then  learn  to  look  upon  our  sorrows  as 
part  of  the  love  of  our  Lord.  It  is  of  His  concern 
for  us  that  individually  and  nationally  we  are  being 
brought  low.  It  is  by  His  permissive  will  that, 
so  far,  the  result  of  our  country's  warfare  is  al- 
most entirely  negative  and  indecisive.  It  is  at  His 
Word  that  the  stormy  wind  arises  to  beat  upon 
our  individual  hearts  and  homes.  And  it  is  of 
His  mercy  that  discipline  has  not  passed  into  retri- 
bution. 


'^^\-  ^4  :F'»'- 


STRENGTH  THROUGH  SORROW       96 

"  My  winter,  yea  my  tears,  my  weariness, 
.'-ven  my  graves,  may  be  His  way  to  bless 
I  call  them  ills.    Yet  that  can  surelv  be 
Nothmg  but  love  which  shows  my  Lord  to 
me." 

As  we  thus  regard  our  sorrow,  seeking  to 
fathom  .ts  message  to  our  sou!,,  and  to  respond 
rightly  to  .ts  call,  we  shall  find  that  in  the  dark 
we  have  been  feedmg  upon  the  Sacramental  Bread 
which  Gods  own  hand  has  ministered.  And  we 
shal  come  forth  into  the  light  to  expend  its  im- 
parted strength  in  the  sacrificial  service  which  f  ^ 
days  demand.  Thus  are  the  sons  of  God  trau.ed 
tor  their  mission. 

For  we  cannot  forget  that  Christ's  tears  have 
become  the  Bread  of  Life  to  the  whole  world  It 
^  by  the  suffering  of  the  Man  of  Sorrows  and  by 
His  acquaintance  with  grief  that  the  v  tire  human 
family  has  been  called  to  the  King's  Table  and 
IS  there  fed.    And  is  it  too  much  to  sav  that  we 

Z°J"°fT  "'!  ^^""^  ""  ''^'"S  fed  with  the 
bread  of  tears  that  our  lives  also  may  acquire  a 
redemptive  and  sacramental  value?  Is  it  not  true 
that  for  us,  as  for  Him,  the  im-  ediate  experiences 
K  l^l^  preparatory  and  prophetic  of  the  service 
by  which  other  lives  are  saved  and  sheltered,  and 
to  the  extent  of  which  there  is  no  measure' 

Let  us  draw  nigh  then  and  take  the  Body  of 
our  Lord.  -^ 


XII 
OTHER  REFUGE  HAVE  I  NONE 

"  David    encouraged    hitnsetf    in    the    Lord    his   God."~~ 
I  Samuei.  XXX  ;  6, 

NEVER  in  the  experience  of  any  i){  us  were 
the  causes  of  discouragement  so  irany  or 
so  powerful  as  they  are  to-day.  Over  the 
whole  world  there  broods  an  anxiety  which  de- 
presses the  spirit  of  the  most  ardent,  and  darkens 
the  outlook  of  thoughtful  men  in  every  nation. 
This  terrible  w?r  goes  on,  and  must  go  on,  with 
unabated  fury.  Appalling  sacrifice  of  precious  life 
is  chronicled  daily.  Sorrow  and  gloom  have  set- 
tled upon  countless  hearts  and  homes.  There  are 
few  indeed  who  have  not  already  been  flecked 
with  the  spray  of  the  storm.  And  in  all  likeli- 
hood most  of  us  will,  ere  long,  have  to  suffer  un- 
speakable anguish  as  its  waves  and  billow's  go  over 
us.  If  ever  there  was  a  time  when  discouragement 
might  be  regarded  as  excusable  it  is  now,  had  it 
not  been  that  \ie  are  not  left  without  saving  guid- 
ance as  to  that  renewal  of  faith  and  courage  of 
which  all  are  consciously  in  need.  Our  experiences 
are  in  themselves  part  of  the  Divine  invitation  to 
draw  near  to  the  Holy  Place.  There  is  a  river 
whose  streams  still  flow  for  the  gladdening  of  the 
80 


OTHEU  UEPIGE  HAVE  I  NONE   97 

City  of  God.  Our  sun  may  be  darkened,  but  it 
IS  not  ni  eclipse.  We  ni.iy  tliink  ourselves  over- 
whelmed, but  we  arc  really  ovcrshadou  i  by  un- 
changing  mercy.  And  we  need  to  re.liscover  God 
f<)r  our.selves  in  ihese  days  of  strain  and  stress 
Only  so  shall  we  be  saved  frcm  the  peril,  which 
peculiarly  beset  the  discourage  .  and  depressed  be- 
liever. 


An  incident  in  the  life  of  David  is  str  kingly 
apposite  to  the  present  condition  of  thin  He 

had  sustained  a  serious  reverse  in  warfare     The 
town  of  Ziklag,  which  was  his  headquarters,  had, 
while  lie  was  away  or  some  expedition,  been  in- 
vaded by  the  Amalekites,  and  had  been  burned  to 
the  ground.    David  and  his  men  returned  to  find 
their  city  devastated,  their  homes  ruined,  and  their 
wives  and  children  carried  into  ciptivity.    In  sor- 
row every  man  wept  "  until  thev  had  no  more 
power  to  weep."  Then,  as  is  the  manner  of  crowds 
came  a  sudden  revulsion  of  feeling.    Their  anguish 
turned  to  anger.    So  hotly  was  their  wrath  kindled 
against  their  leader,  upon  whom  they  unwarrant- 
ably laid  the  blame  of  this  disaster,  that  his  life 
was  in  danger  at  their  hands. 

In  such  an  hour  of  deep  anxiety,  David  had  re- 
course to  the  only  place  open  to  him— the  presence- 
chamber  of  his  God.  When  everything  seemed  to 
be  going  dead  against  him  he  "  encouraged  himself 
in  the  Lord  his  God."    A  man  may  be  at  his  wits' 


:bo'li^'^  A-  5=-C. 


98 


THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 


end,  and  yet  not  at  his  faith's  end.  The  calamity 
which  had  fallen  like  a  stroke  from  an  unkindly 
sky  only  served  to  quicken  his  confidence  in  God. 
Driven  by  his  very  distress  to  seeK  God's  face,  he 
made  new  discovery  of  the  amplitude  of  his  re- 
sources. He  learned  that  there  was  a  blessedness 
of  communion  to  which  he  had  hitherto  been 
stranger.  For  until  then  he  had  never  been  in  just 
the  circumstances  which  made  its  apprehension 
both  necessary  and  possible. 

It  is  well  to  bear  in  mind  that  it  was  by  his  own 
fault  that  this  calamity  had  come  upon  him.  He 
had  sought  sanctuary  with  the  Philistines,  because 
he  imagined  that  Saul,  his  enemy,  was  too  strong 
for  him.  Instead  of  standing  his  ground  as  in 
earlier  jays,  he  had  fled  for  refuge  to  the  land  of 
Saul's  hereditary  enemies,  and  had  made  a  kind  of 
alliance  with  them,  imagining  that  he  thus  secured 
his  own  safety.  Had  he  but  trusted  God,  had  he 
but  been  loyal  to  the  assurances  declared  over  him 
by  God's  prophet  in  the  day  when  he  was  anointed 
as  king,  these  present  difficulties  had  never 
troubled  him. 

Under  such  circumstances  men  always  find  it 
most  difficult  to  come  back  to  God.  It  is  when  the 
consequence  of  iniquity  is  upon  them  that  they  find 
it  hardest  to  face  Him.  And  David  was  no  excep- 
tion in  this.  Yet  he  ventured  to  seek  God,  for  he 
could  do  no  other.  The  calamity  which  had  come 
so  unexpectedly  had  shattered  his  self-complacency, 
had  brought  him  to  acknowledgment  of  his  defec- 


?|:; ,.„  '= ■    *"^ 

■■^*'*-.44f*'« r'i 


» ^ 


OTHER  REFUGE  HAVE  I  NONE   99 

tion,  and  had  recalled  him  to  his  true  dependence 
—not  upon  political  alliances,  but  upon  God  It 
hurnbled  his  spirit,  and  sent  him  into  the  presence 
of  Cod  a  chastened  man  It  brought  him  to  the 
attitude  of  soul  in  which  alone  a  man  can  receive 
from  God  all  that  richness  of  His  grace,  and  all 
those  blessings  of  His  sympathy  which  are  the 
factors  of  true  and  .  1  iding  encouragement. 

II 
In  view  of  the  widespread  spirit  of  religious  un- 
concern which  is  so  sinister  a  characteristic  of 
large  numbers  to-day,  who  are  yet  deeply  concerned 
about  the  issues  of  the  War  and  the  prospects 
of  the  Nation,  it  is  well  to  point  out  that  there  are 
directions  in  which  encouragement  cannot  be  suc- 
cessfully sought.     It  is  not,  for  example,  to  be 
found  m  the  reading  of  venturesome  articles  by 
so-called   experts   as   to   the   probable  course  of 
events  m  this  momentous  struggle.    For  these  are 
m  the  main  based  upon  hypotheses  which  as  a  mat- 
ter of  fact  sekiom  eventuate.     Nor  are  we  likely 
to  be  permanently  encouraged  bv  recalling  the  fact 
that  m  previous  conflicts  our  Nation  has  alwavs 
succeeded,  and  concluding  hence  that  she  must  al- 
ways be  victorious.     Nor  shall  we  find  true  en- 
couragement by  under-rating  the  resources  of  our 
foes,  as  we  are  invited  to  do  by  a  section  of  the 
Press  which  publishes  conjectures  in  this  respect 
as  though  they  were  certainties.     Sooner  or  later 
we  discover  that  all  such  things  as  these  are  broken 


100       THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

cisterns  which  hold  no  water.  And  their  failure 
permanently  to  sustain  and  nourish  our  hearts,  to 
rekindle  our  hope  and  confidence,  casts  us  more 
than  ever  upon  God.  We  need  to  live  in  these 
days  amid  the  great  realities  which  circle  around 
Him.  The  outlook  is  dark  enough;  but  the  up- 
look  has  lost  nothing  of  its  eternal  brightness.  God 
is  our  refuge  and  strength;  and  in  Him  alone  is 
to  be  realized  the  renewal  of  those  qualities  which 
are  vital  to  the  life  of  a  man  and  a  nation. 

In  what  do  they  find  encouragement  who  seek 
it  in  God  at  this  time?  First,  there  is  the  fact 
that  all  discipline,  whether  of  a  man  or  a  race,  is 
directed  by  Him.  How  surely  our  land  needs 
chastisement  and  correction  is  sadly  acknowledged 
even  by  those  who  most  dearly  love  her.  We  have 
of  late  years  become  headstrong  and  proud,  boast- 
ful and  vain,  contemptuous  of  God's  Word  and  of 
His  Day;  so  that  He  could  not  consistently  with 
His  own  nature  suffer  us  to  go  on  for  ever  unre- 
buked.  While  far  from  believing  that  this  war 
was  God-caused,  it  is  certain  that  it  is  being  God- 
used.  Nor  shall  we  be  able  to  hail  its  satisfactory 
conclusion  until  the  moral  lessons  it  emphasizes 
have  been  learned.  For  there  is  little  evidence  that 
we  are  yet  as  a  people  humbled  in  penitence,  and 
restored  to  a  right  mind.  There  is  little  evidence 
that  we  have  awakened  fully  to  the  seriousness  of 
the  issue  which  is  being  determined  yonder  on  the 
blood-drenched  fields  of  France.  But  the  fact 
that  our  disciphne  is  in  His  hands  Who  pities  His 


OTHER  REFUGE  HAVE  I  NONE      101 

children,  and  corrects  them  only  that  they  may 
become  partakers  of  His  holiness,  encourages  us. 
The  entire  meaning  of  the  judgments  which  are 
now  abroad  among  us  is  to  be  found  in  His  undy- 
ing love.  He  is  not  crushing  but  recreating  us. 
It  took  calamity  to  bring  David  back  to  God,  and 
it  is  certain  that  this  is  the  meaning  of  that  per- 
missive Will  under  which  we  now  suffer. 

Then  there  is  encouragement  in  the  certainty 
that  God's  purpose  is  unchangeable.  This  David 
learned  as  he  betook  him  to  the  heavenly  audience- 
chamber  in  his  dark  day.  The  kingdom  had  long 
been  promised  to  him.  The  holy  anointing  oil  had 
been  poured  upon  him.  He  might  well  have  asked 
during  those  long-waiting  days  of  anxiety,  "  Hath 
God  forgotten  to  be  gracious?"  .\nd  he  might 
well  have  caught  the  reply,  "  No !  but  thou  hast 
forgotten  to  be  faithful."  Now,  however,  mem- 
ory is  quickened  by  a  sense  of  fear.  Faith,  after 
fluctuating  like  a  compass-needle  under  magnetic 
forces,  rests  at  its  true  north— in  God.  David  is 
encouraged  to  recom.,ience  a  life  of  loyal  subjec- 
tion to  His  discipline  and  guidance,  with  the  as- 
surance of  the  changelessness  of  His  purpose. 

And  this  is  the  confident  encouragement  we  may 
find  in  God  at  this  time  regarding  our  nation.  If 
we  believe  that  Great  Britain  has  come  to  an  end 
of  the  Divine  purpose,  and  that  her  national  mis- 
sion is  fulfilled,  there  is  nothing  more  to  say.  But 
since  everything  points  to  the  largeness  of  her 
possible  contribution  to  the  work  of  the  Kingdom 


im^f^n 


102       THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

of  God  in  all  the  world,  we  cannot  accept  this  con- 
clusion. Everything  is  not  lost  while  the  purpose 
of  God  persists.    Herein  we  may  lift  up  our  hearts. 


Beyond  these  facts,  which  faith  transmutes  into 
factors  of  uplifting  encouragement,  is  the  assur- 
ance that  His  love  is  faithful.  The  bitterest  re- 
flection of  David's  mind  was  doubtless  that  his 
trouble  was  self-caused,  and  that  if  his  early  fidelity 
had  been  maintained  these  calamities  would  never 
have  touched  him.  From  our  own  consciousness 
we  may  infer  that  he  was  very  likely  tempted  to 
despair,  as  though  he  had  somehow  cut  himself 
off  from  God's  favour.  But  he  had  to  learn,  as 
we  have,  that  there  is  something  far  stronger  than 
sin  and  its  consequences — it  is  the  love  of  God. 
And  he  did  learn  it,  and  for  ever  enshrined  the 
lesson  in  a  song  whose  refrain  runs :  "  There  is 
forgiveness  with  Thee  that  Thou  mayest  be 
feared!" 

He  further  learned  that  God  can  rapidly  organ- 
ize victory  for  a  man  when  He  Himself  is  vic- 
torious in  him.  Such  is  the  faithfulness  of  His 
love.  Does  not  ihis  encourage  us  in  regard  to  our 
present  difficulties?  Is  His  love  less  faithful  to 
the  land  He  has  so  long  blessed?  Is  He  not  tb** 
God  of  peoples  as  well  as  of  persons?  Is  not  all 
history  His  story — the  story  of  a  love  which  will 
not  let  men  go? 

Mr.  Spurgeon  once  said,  with  a  flash  of  spiritual 


OTHER  REFUGE  HAVE  I  NONE      103 

genius  of  which  he  seemed  more  than  most  men 
capable,  that  love-letters  from  Heaven  are  often 
sent  in  black-edged  envelopes!  And  those  who 
watch  at  His  gates  are  increasingly  persuaded  that 
this  is  the  interpretation  of  our  nation's  present 
experience.  Our  ultimate  security  for  victory  and 
the  blessings  of  a  righteous  and  wide-spreading 
peace  is  the  character  of  our  God.  In  Him,  there- 
fore, let  us  encourage  ourselves  in  these  dark  days. 
And  in  His  reflected  radiance  let  us  become  lights 
in  a  gloom-shrouded  world. 


-m.^r^mi'^mz-mm^w: 


XIII 

"  WEARIED  IN  THE  GREATNESS  OF  THE 
WAY  " 

"Thou   art   wearied   in    the   greatness   of    the    wav"— 
Isaiah  Ivii:  lo,  ■'' 

A  MISSIONARY    who    recently    returned 
home  after  a  period  of  service  in  the  field 
was  greatly  struck  with  the  obvious  weari- 
ness of  many  of  the  Christian  workers  with  whom 
he  was  brought  into  contact  up  and   down  the 
country.     Nothing  impressed  him  so  much  as  the 
fact  that  so  many  seemed  to  be  jaded  and  worn  out; 
and  he  could  not  forbear  contrasting  their  state 
very  unfavourably  with  the  members  and  workers 
of  the  native  Church  amongst  whom  he  is  accus- 
tomed to  live.    And  it  weald  seem  as  though  his 
observation  was   justified.     On   every   hand   we 
meet  those  who  show   signs  of  exhaustion  and 
weariness,   while  courageously  persisting  in   the 
pathway  of   duty,   and  bravely  endeavouring  to 
carry  out  their  obligations  as  in  other  days.    But 
the  buoyancy  has  gone  from  their  spirits.     The 
song  has  died  down  in  their  hearts.     Their  steps 
are  heavy,  and  there  is  altogether  a  lack  of  tone 
in  their  utterance.     Indeed,  their  ent're  bearing 
is  a  contradiction  of  the  restful  spirit  of  the  Evan- 
104 


^^'^m^^rn. 


"  GREATNESS  OF  THE  WAY  "         105 

gel,  and  compels  the  consideration  as  to  how  far 
Its  pronnses  are  applicable  to  the  conditions  of 
mcjern  life. 

Now,  there  is  little  to  wonder  at  in  the  tired- 
ness and  over-strain  which  appear  to  be  charac- 
teristic of  large  numbers  to-day,  because  life  has 
undoubtedly  become  harder  than  ever,  especially 
to  those  who  cherish  ideals.     Its  moral  liabilities 
have  increased  enormously,  while  its  assets  seem 
to  have  diminished.    We  are  all  realizing  that  our 
present  burdens  are  heavier  than  we  have  ever 
known,  and  that  the  antagonisms  which  oppose 
those  who  seek  to  walk  on  high  levels  of  fellow- 
ship with  God  and  men  are  sorer  than  we  have 
ever  before  encountered.     The  very  atmosphere 
of  anxiety  and  uncertainty  in  which  we  live  is  de- 
bilitating.    Nor  do  the  usual  resources  by  which 
inspiration  is  strengthened  and  renewed,  prove 
effective.    To  the  weary  man  the  Bible  seems  to 
yield  nothing.     The  hour  of  prayer,  instead  of 
being  a  delight,  becomes  a  burden.    The  fellowship 
of  God  s  people  and  the  Worship  of  His  House 
lose  their  power  of  appeal.     The  tired-out  man 
hnds  them  more  or  less  insipid  and  flavourless,  and 
IS  prone  to  let  slip  the  very  things  he  should  hold, 
hardly  realizing  what  he  does. 

While  admitting  that  all  this  may  be  only  a 
passing  mood-though  with  many  it  seems  to  be 
persistent-it  is  needful  to  observe  that  such  a 
mood  may  have  very  serious  and  far-reaching  in- 
fluence upon  a  man's  life.    It  may,  for  instance. 


hjfj^ 


W   j,\ 


■mfi 


106       THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

make  him  nerveless,  irritable,  and  quite  unready 
to  respond  to  the  calls  of  duty.  Or  it  may  render 
him  fearful  and  apprehensive,  afraid  almost  of 
his  own  shadow,  and  hence  unable  to  fulfil  his 
high  responsibilities.  Or,  most  serious  of  all,  it 
may  induce  a  moral  carelessness  which  is  the  cer- 
tain forerunner  of  disaster.  There  is  always  the 
danger  of  over-wearied  men  doing  things  which 
their  weariness  may  explain  but  cannot  excuse. 
Many  a  wrong  decision,  and  many  an  unwise 
choice  whose  consequences  have  marred  a  life's 
influence,  have  been  the  outcome  of  this  state. 
And  many  an  utter  spiritual  collapse  likewise. 
For  some  men  have  actually  denied  th  .  Faith,  and 
have  fallen  into  unspeakable  sin,  just  because  they 
were  too  jaded  to  call  up  their  moral  reserves  in 
that  hour  when  the  ener  y  launched  his  unexpected 
and  fierce  attack.  In  a  worn-out  condition  of 
soul  no  man  can  stir  himself  up  to  take  hold  upon 
God.  This  being  so,  how  necessary  it  is  for  us 
to  understand  the  possible  issues  of  our  weari- 
ness, honestly  to  examine  ourselves  as  to  its  cause, 
and  to  realize  God  anew  in  relation  to  our  need 
of  refreshment  and  recreation.  Our  efficiency 
as  His  servants  and  witnesses  depends  on  this. 


Like  Israel  when  Isaiah  uttered  his  prophecy 
of  warning  and  promise,  there  are  those  who  are 
"  wearied  in  the  greatness  of  the  way,"  because 
that  way  is  a  self-chosen  and  a  God-forsaking 


r^T^  wtf'M. 


"  GREATNESS  OF  THE  WAY  "        1C7 

way.  They  have  worn  themselves  out,  not  by 
the  doing  of  God's  commandments,  but  by  resist- 
ing them.  Fcr  men  are  not  wearied  by  wearing 
His  yoke,  so  much  as  by  trying  to  wear  other  har- 
ness at  the  same  time.  It  is  not  sacred  duty  but 
selfish  determination  which  exhausts  strength  and 
makes  life  burdensome.  Where  God's  control  is 
interfered  with,  peace  is  disturbed  and  strength 
diminishes.  It  is  only  when  His  constraint  is  sensi- 
tively obeyed,  when  His  ruling  i  i  loyally  respected, 
and  when  His  ways  are  resolutely  kept  by  the 
feet  of  His  people,  that  they  go  from  strength  to 
strength,  and  not  from  weariness  to  weariness. 
At  the  heart  of  a  great  deal  of  the  exhaustion  and 
weakness  amongst  the  children  of  God  to-day, 
will  be  found  some  secret  controversy  with  Him. 
Nor  will  their  strength  be  renewed  except  by  sin- 
cere readjustment.  Rest  of  heart  can  only  follow 
upon  cleansing  of  conscience.  The  self-wearied 
man  must  at  all  costs  get  right  with  God. 

This  may  well  involve  stern  action  to  which  the 
will  must  be  braced.  And  be  it  said  at  once  that 
every  whole-hearted  effort  in  this  respect  will  cer- 
tainly be  reinforced  by  a  Divine  energy  to  which 
the  contentedly  weary  man  has  long  been  stranger. 
Deferred  obedience  may  be  difficult,  but  it  is  en- 
tirely necessary.  For  there  is  nothing  of  the 
merely  academic  or  theological  in  a  man's  face-to- 
face  dealing  with  God.  The  strength  and  renewal 
he  seeks  will  come  as  no  mere  inference  from 
mental  assent  to  Truth.    It  is  the  Divine  response 


108       THE  CONFIDENCE  OP  FAITH 

to  honesi  confession  and  amendment.  God  as- 
serts Himself  in  the  tides  of  new  life  which  in- 
varial/'  •  flow  in  upon  the  soul  of  the  man  whose 
repentance  toward  Him  is  expressed  by  a  life  re- 
adjusted in  its  relationship  toward  men.  It  is  only 
as  by  a  sharp  operation  that  many  who  are  in  a 
chronic  state  of  weariness  can  be  saved  from  per- 
manent moral  invalidism. 


II 

It  is  part  of  the  proof  that  we  were  never  in- 
tended to  he  equal  to  life  apart  from  spiritual  en- 
dusments,  that  we  do  become  "  wearied  in  the 
greatness  of  the  way."  The  uphill  journey,  the 
unequal  contest,  the  many  disappointments  and 
anxieties,  the  haunting  uncertainty  of  the  future, 
all  combine  to  exhaust  our  strength.  And  added 
to  these  burdens  is  the  present  eclipse  of  our  ideals 
of  national  life  and  supernational  fellowship,  which 
has  brought  darkness  and  perplexity  to  the  increase 
of  our  weariness.  We  are  disquieted  and  disturbed 
because  we  are  discovering  ourselves  under  the 
burden  of  these  days.  Our  secret  disloyalties,  our 
unsuspected  antipathies,  our  hidden  instabilities, 
are  all  becoming  more  conscious  to  us.  We  are 
verily  wearied  by  our  growing  self-knowledge. 

Beside  all  this  there  is  not  infrequently  at  the 
back  of  our  minds  an  unsettling  though  unspoken 
doubt  of  God's  love  and  power.  How  can  He 
suffer  the  continuance  of  bloodshed  and  carnage? 
Why  does  He  not  interpose  to  bring  to  an  end 


iWOPIP^ 


"  GRE.   -\ESS  OF  THE  WAY  "        109 

the  horrors  of  war  ?  When  will  He  vindicate  Mi,n- 
self  by  crushing  the  wrong  and  crowning  the  right ' 
These  are  some  of  the  haunting  queries  which 
weary  us  almost  beyond  endurance  as  we  try  to 
hnd  satisfactory  answer.  And  we  need  to  beware 
lest  in  our  weariness  we  are  betrayed  into  passine 
adverse  judgment  upon  God's  ways.  For  in  so 
doing  we  but  condemn  ourselves. 

The  mere  fact  that  we  are  brought  to  an  end 
of  ourselves  "  by  the  greatness  of  the  way  "  at 
once  testifies  to  God's  unbroken  hold  upon  us'  and 
our  unexhausted  claim  upon  Him.  If  we  are  com- 
mg  to  know  by  our  weariness  the  inadequacy  of 
every  other  resource  but  that  of  the  strength  which 
is  made  perfect  in  weakness,  we  are  learning  the 
secret  of  the  life  eternal. 

Ill 
Christ's  word  to  the  weary  means  much  more 
to  us  in  these  days  of  burdensome  waiting  and 
watching  than  it  ever  did.  For  as  the  weariest 
Man  who  ever  trod  this  same  earth,  He  invites  us 
to  learn  of  Him  the  secret  of  renewal  and  refresh- 
ment. And  as  the  busiest  Man  who  ever  wrought 
at  life  s  tasks,  He  teaches  us  how  to  live  a  full  life 
without  being  overstrained.    How  did  He  act  when 

wearied  b-  the  greatness  of  the  way"?  It  is 
significant  that  we  find  answer  both  at  the  com- 
mencement and  the  close  of  His  life. 

"  Jesus  being  wearied  sat  thus  on  the  well  "_ 
and  talked  with  a  poor  sinful  woman.    His  disci- 


'^nw^'Wi  jp  .::i^.  ■^Tn 


110       THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

pies  on  returning  found  all  trace  of  weariness  gone 
from  Him,  and  wondered.  How  had  He  lost  His 
tiredness?  By  ministering  to  one  who  was  yet 
m"re  weary  than  Himself!  He  found  in  service 
t'  unfailing  antidote  to  a  tired  spirit.  And  one 
w.i_,  of  getting  rid  of  our  weariness  is  to  do  as 
He  did.  liy  establishing  and  maintaining  contact 
with  those  who  are  needier  than  wt  arc.  we  shall 
find  resi  unto  our  souls.  Your  load  is  heavy;  but 
there  are  others  who  are  bearing  burdens  far 
heavier.  Your  an.xieties  are  beyond  telling;  but 
the  blow  has  already  fallen  upon  your  neighbour. 
Get  out  of  yourself  and  into  fellowship  with  those 
who  all  around  you  are  groping  in  the  dark  with- 
out a  ligtit.  Push  back  the  horizon  of  life  beyond 
the  bound  of  your  own  concerns.  Share  with  Him 
the  weight  of  the  sins  and  sorrows  of  a  lost  world. 
So  will  you  lose  all  your  fatigue,  and  find  yourself 
rejuvenated. 

When  all  the  force  of  the  foe  mustered  against 
Him,  and  those  on  whose  comradeship  He  leaned 
were  unmindfu'  of  His  travail,  facing  alone  the 
last  crisis  of  His  life,  Jesus  "  began  to  be  very 
weary."  Yet  when  the  hour  struck  and  the  enemy 
came,  it  was  to  find  Him  in  calm  possession  of  His 
soul,  ready  to  lay  down  the  life  which  no  man 
could  take  from  Him.  How  had  He  lost  Hi> 
weariness?  Come  into  the  Garden  and  listen  to 
His  prayers,  which  voice  His  confidence  n  the 
Father.  His  strength  is  renewed  as  He  meditates 
on  the  Father's  care,  and  stays  Himself  on  His 


" GREATNESS  OF  THE  WAY "        in 

love.  The  Cup  may  he  bitter,  hut  it  is  rrixed  by 
the  Father,  so  all  is  well.  The  darkness  may  be 
deep,  but  it  is  the  darkness  which  is  "  round  aiiout 
HIM."  By  renewing  I  li^  confidence  in  the  Father, 
He  was  in  that  hour  strengthened  to  accomplish 
the  world's  rcdeniptiiiii. 

And  so  it  is  with  ijis  followers.     We  must  get 
back  to  that  elemental  thinf;  in  all  Christian  experi- 
ence—belief   in     Cdd's     faithfulness.       VVc    art 
wearied,  just  because  we  have  ]<.rA  the  sense  of 
His  purpose.  Mis  power,  and  His  presence.     And 
th.   gh  we  may  not  emulate  Christ  our  Lord  in 
respect  of  }Iis  knowledge  of  the  Father— for  there 
were  avenues  of  understanding  open  to  Him  which 
are  not  available  to  us— wc  may  vet  know  enough 
to  save  us  from  the  weariness  which  threatens  dis- 
aster to  our  true  life.     \Vt  ma-  not  be  able  to 
fathom  all  the  mysteries  of  the  starry  Heavens. 
Yet  we  can  focus  them  in  one  moment  of  time  upon 
the  pupil  of  an  eye!     And  we  may  each  learn 
enough  of  the  love  of  the  Father,  as  we  wait  upon 
Him,  to  enable  us  henceforthto  run  the  whole 
course  of  His  will,  and  not  be  weary.     We  shall 
surely  exchange  our  weights  for  wing's  as  we  learn 
of  Christ  and  follow  Him.    But  only  so. 


XIV 

THE     WITHERING     GRASS     AND    THE 
ABIDING   WORD 

"  The  grass  withereth,  and  the  flower  Ihcrrof  fadeth,  but 
the  word  of  the  Lord  endureth  for  fi^i-r"— Isaiah  x1:7, 

IT  is  an  obvious  truism  that  the  history  of  the 
Gospel  is  a  record  of  conflict.  In  every  age 
it  has  had  its  detractors  and  foes.  Most  of 
them  are  now  long-forgotten,  or,  if  remembered 
at  all,  are  only  recalled  to  mind  by  the  absurdities 
of  their  pretensions  and  the  completeness  of  their 
failure.  The  Gospel  lives  by  its  triumphs.  It  has 
outlasted  and  vanquished  all  the  "  glory  of  man  " 
which  has  ever  disputed  its  claims.  Its  theoretic 
perfection  linked  with  dynamic  strength  sets  it  in 
victorious  contrast  to  every  other  professed  guide 
of  life.  And  never  more  triumphantly  than  to- 
day. For  the  foes  of  the  enduring  Word  are 
always  contemporary,  since  its  message  is  ageless. 
It  does  not  seem  long  since  the  publication  of  the 
"  Age  of  Reason  "  claimed  to  have  entirely  dis- 
posed of  the  idea  of  God,  and  to  have  liberated 
mankind  thereby  from  an  unintelligent  and  intol- 
erable bondage.  In  later  days  the  general  accept- 
ance of  an  evolutionary  theory  of  origins,  which 
appeared  to  be  in  irreconcilable  conflict  with  the 
112 


THE    WITHERING   GRASS  113 

S°iThr'\°',?''*'°"'  '''"'"'  *°  demand 
iim  wv^  ""''^  reconsider  and  restate  its 
daims.  While  in  recent  years  the  extremer  and 
mc^re  grotesque  forms  of  BibHcal  Criticism  have 
the  trL'v     f  '^'"'''''''  ^'''^  ^■<='°"«  over  al! 

Writ  en  vr'i'"^''''""'^^  ^''^'''°  ^''°"^'^  t°  the 
Wmten  Word  as  uniquely  and  Divinely  inspired. 

thlV    °"^''  '"  '^'  ^*°™^  ^hich  have  spent 
the.r  force  m  vam,  the  sacred  Volume,  in  which 
the  Evangel  ,s  set  forth  in  prophecy,  psalmody 
and  proclamafon.  stands  unmoved  as  some  great 
ock  m  m,d-ocean.     The  waves  dash  themsflves 
funously  against  it,  only  to  be  broken  in  spra; 
upon  US  .mmovable  front.     Despite  every  detrac- 
t.on.  the  Gospel  still  holds  to  its  sdf-verifying  v   ' 
-comfortmg  the  anxious,  strengthening  the  fee^ 
be,  encouragmg  the  downcast,  inspiring%he  fear- 
ful   and    savmg   the   sinner.      And    in   all   this 
confounding  ,ts  enemies.    One  of  the  Waldensia,; 
Churches  has  as  its  seal  an  anvil  and  a  numbe   o? 
broken  hammers,  with  the  motto 

"Hammer  away,  ye  hostile  hands' 
Your  hammers  break:  God's  anvil  stands!  " 

This  is  well  expressed.  For  the  verdict  of  his 
cry  attests  the  enduring  Word  as  the  VVord  of  the 
Lord.  And  in  days  like  the  present,  when  hSorv 
-s  bemg  made,  all  kinds  of  rJien  turn  to  its  pt« 
for  what  cannot  be  found  elsewhere.  This  a^d 
the  fact  that  there  they  unfailingly  realize  th;  sat 


ijlWniip 


llliW#««b^Ml^lR^ 


114       THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

isfactions  for  which  their  every  institift  of  soul 
cries  out,  is  evidence  enough  of  its  entirely  super- 
natural character.  The  final  homage  of  this  as  of 
every  preceding  age  will  yet  be  paid  to  the  only 
Gospel  by  which  men  can  worthily  live  and  cour- 
ageously die. 


Grass  withers  in  the  ordinary  course  of  things 
by  mere  process  of  time.  What  was  verdant  and 
fresh  in  Spring  is  faded  and  dry  in  Autumn.  And 
time  similarly  brings  into  our  lives  changes  which 
only  time  can  heal.  They  come  slowly  and  un- 
noticed with  advancing  years.  Early  emotions 
lose  their  thrill.  The  zest  of  young  days  soon 
tempers  into  the  complacency  of  mid-life.  Powers 
of  desire  and  appreciation  imperceptibly  weaken 
as  life  proceeds.  While  there  are  doubtless  com- 
pensations for  all  that  men  lose  in  the  impercepti- 
ble passing  from  youth  to  age,  their  withered  joys 
do  not  flourish  again,  save  in  regretful  and  some- 
times resentful  memory. 

Grass  sometimes  withers  prematurely  owing  to 
lack  of  necessary  attention.  A  lawn  which  is  not 
cut  and  rolled  and  watered  soon  loses  its  freshness 
and  velvet  softness.  The  fact  of  its  former  beauty 
only  then  condemns  its  present  state.  It  stands  a 
witness  to  the  destructive  power  of  passive  neg- 
lect. And  sometimes  it  is  so  also  in  life.  Men 
lose  their  earlier  experience  of  peace,  their  inner 
sense  of  joy,  their  inspiring  consciousness  of  the 


THE    WITHERING   GRASS  115 

reality  and  worth  of  eternal  things,  by  sheer  inat- 
tention to  the  needs  of  the  soul.  The  weeds  of 
doubt,  of  anxiety,  and  of  evil  habit  grow  rapidly 
when  vigilant  care  is  relaxed.  The  enemy  sows 
tares  while  men  sleep.  Thorns  spring  up  and 
choke  the  good  seed  in  any  life  which  ceases  to 
be  prayerfully  attentive  to  its  moral  and  spiritual 
culture,  r  does  not  take  long  for  a  garden  to 
become  a  wilderness  when  left  to  itself.  For 
Nature  is  wonderfully  and  ruthlessly  self-asser- 
tive. 

Grass  withers  prematurely  also  in  consequence 
of  violent  treatment.  The  sharp  stroke  of  the 
scythe  cuts  it  down,  and  leaves  it  to  wither  and 
die.  Or  it  is  blasted  by  storm.  Or,  again,  it  is 
blighted  by  heat.  And  what  was  fair  and  beautiful 
lies  wilted  and  worthless.  Who  does  not  know 
that  life  has  its  corresponding  features?  And  who 
does  not  recognize — especially  in  these  days — that 
the  withering  grass  depicts  human  e.xperience  in 
at  least  one  of  its  aspects  ?  A  great  and  ruthless 
hand  seems  to  swing  the  scythe  which  at  one  fell 
blow  destroys  hope,  disturbs  happiness,  inflicts 
bleeding  wounds  of  pain,  takes  away  cherished 
possessions,  and  makes  it  for  ever  impossible  to 
reconstruct  life  in  its  former  values.  A  blinding 
storm  of  sorrow  breaks  without  warning,  and  earth 
can  never  be  the  same  again.  For  its  tenderest 
and  most  fragrant  blooms  have  been  smitten  be- 
yond all  hope  of  recovery.  A  hot  wind  of  tempta- 
tion blows  with  insistent  and  pitiless  fury,  under 


V 


116       THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

which  the  very  springs  of  goodness  seem  to  jry 
up,  leaving  whatever  there  was  before  of  purity 
and  beauty  to  wither  entirely. 

It  is  in  the  hours  when  men  perceive  the  with- 
ering grass  lying  about  their  pathway  that  they 
are  in  greatest  peril.  Their  tacit  assumption  of 
permanence  is  perforce  recognized  as  having  been 
mistaken;  and,  whatever  be  the  cause,  the  very  fact 
that  life  has  been  disturbed,  that  hope  has  been 
frustrated,  and  'that  the  world  is  henceforth  an 
impoverished  place,  is  apt  to  put  the  severest  strain 
upon  their  confidence  in  God.  Once  let  His  good- 
ness be  disputed,  and  it  is  as  though  the  sluice- 
gates of  evil  had  been  opened.  For  duty  becomes 
irksome,  prayer  loses  its  impulse.  Heaven-ward 
obligation  is  resented,  and  not  infrequently  the 
faith  of  God  is  ultimately  denied  and  deserted. 
This  is  of  all  dangers  the  greatest.  And  just  be- 
cause it  is  all  around  us,  a  reminder  of  the  enduring 
.Word  of  the  Lord  is  apposite. 

We  must  face  life  bravely  in  the  confidence  that 
Christ's  revelation  of  the  Father  is  for  ever  tc 
be  safely  trusted.  For  this  Word  is  an  echo  of 
His  speech.  It  rises  from  the  experience  of  one 
who  learned  it  at  first  hand,  and  who  found  in  it 
a  satisfactory  and  inspiring  interpretation  of  all 
life's  mysterious  phases.  There  is  a  salvation,  so 
Christ  teaches,  which  is  only  known  to  the  man 
who  endures  to  the  end.  And  there  is  a  casting 
away  of  confidence  which  is  the  fc<rfeiture  for  ever 
of  all  recompense  of  reward.    If  we  fc.  our  part 


THE   WITHERING  GRASS 


117 


refuse  to  accept  any  small  meaning  of  the  disturb- 
ing experiences  by  which  life  seems  to  be  made 
barren,  and  are  courageously  satisfied  to  believe 
that  they  have  a  larger  content  than  faith  can  yet 
see,  we  shall  one  day  come  to  realize  that  God 
Who  orders  them  all  has  never  had  in  view  any- 
thing less  than  our  highest  good.  There  is  a  glory 
that  fades  only  to  shed  abroad  the  seed  of  its  own 
life.  There  is  grass  that  withers  only  that  it  may 
fertilize  the  soil  for  newer  and  richer  harvests. 
There  is  a  grace  of  God  which  is  multiplied  to 
men  by  the  seeming  subtractions  from  their  lives 
which  it  plans.  We  must  take  life's  dimensions 
correctly  if  we  are  to  be  saved  from  resentment. 
And  we  must  take  them  "  according  to  the  meas- 
ure of  a  man,  that  is  of  the  Angel." 


The  written  Word  outlives  every  foe.  not  by 
reason  o'.  its  historical  accuracy,  its  ethical  per 
fection,  its  moral  beauty,  its  philosophic  reason- 
ableness, or  its  human  sympathy — though  it  has  all 
these  qualities.  The  secret  of  its  enduring  character 
is  Christ  Himself.  For  "the  Word  was  made 
flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us.  and  we  beheld  His 
glory."  And  still  He  lives  in  our  midst.  Evary 
page  of  the  sacrfd  Scri  tures  glows  with  His  con- 
tinuous revelation  of  God.  The  undying  message 
of  the  Divine  Fatherhood  is  for  all  time  incar- 
nated in  the  Christ  of  the  Word.  And  every  ex- 
perience of  those  who  believe  in  God  through  Him 


If 


118       THE  CONFIDENCE  OP  FAITH 

bears  emphatic  witness  to  the  faithfuhiess  and 
trustworthiness  of  the  record.  It  belongs  to  every 
age  aUke.  For  Christ  Himself  is  contemporary 
with  mar  kind. 

The  heart  of  man  is  always  seeking  after  some- 
thing permanent  upon  which  to  build  his  hopes 
We  were  never  meant  to  live  in  the  fluctuations  of 
time     The  instinct  of  eternity  is  deeply  implanted 
within  our  being.     Men  are  not  the  children  of 
a  day,  and  hence  cannot  find  their  true  rest  other- 
where than  in  Him  Whose  offspring  they  are.    As 
a  vessel  must  anchor  to  something  outside  herself 
—and  immeasurably  greater,  so  a  man  must  go 
beyond  himself  ere  he  can  realize  strength  and 
security  amid  all  the  change  and  decay  which  is 
incident  to  his  life.    And  whither  but  to  the  abiding 
Word  ?    Here,  and  here  alone,  is  interpretation  of 
the  withering  grass  and  fading  glory.     And  here 
alone,  in  the  contrast  between  the  perishing  and 
the  Permanent,  the  transient  and  the  Trustworthy, 
the  evanescent  and  the  Eternal,  is  life's  true  mean- 
ing unfolded.    We  are  lifted  above  unrest  and  dis- 
content only  when  we  dwell  within  the  safe  de- 
fences of  the  enduring  Evangel. 

Over  against  the  perplexing  "changes  and 
chances  of  this  mortal  life  "  Christ  sets  the  revela- 
tion of  the  Father.  His  love  is  persistent  in  !^s 
search  after  the  lost  and  erring  child.  His  mercy 
forgives  the  wrong-doing  of  the  penitent,  at  un- 
speakable cost  to  Himself.  His  controlling  will 
orders  all  things  for  good  to  them  that  trust  Him. 


THE   WITHERING   GRASS 


119 


His  faithfulness  harmonizes  all  the  ars'.i  and  dis- 
cordant notes  of  their  experience  ituo  a  love-song. 
His  power  is  always  adequate  and  always  avail- 
able for  the  protection  of  the  weak  in  faith.  His 
Covenant  is  for  life,  and  goes  far  out  also  beyond 
death  and  judgment.  This  is  "  the  Word  of  the 
Lord  "  which  "  endureth  for  ever."  With  cer- 
tainty we  may  test  it  for  ourselves  in  this  dark 
and  cloudy  day  of  anxious  care. 


•*• -^-r%;-^»-^  njp* 


XV 
TO  FLEE  OR  TO  FIGHT? 

"  Ok  that  I  had  wings  like  a  dow."— Psalm  Iv :  6. 

THERE  are  times  in  life  when  under  the 
stress  of  its  burdens  the  human  heart  is 
forced  to  acl<nowledge  its  inability  to  ex- 
temporize faith  or  courage.    Indeed,  at  such  times 
It  finds  no  resource  in  itself  either  for  the  expres- 
sion of  its  emotion  or  the  interpretation  of  its  ex- 
perience.    Moreover,   the   kindly  light  does   not 
always  respond  to  the  summons  of  fear,  the  en- 
circling gloom  is  unillumined  by  even  a  star,  and 
to  take  a  false  step  is  both  easy  and  perilous.     In 
such  circumstances  there  is  always  certain  help  to 
be  derived  from  the  remembrance  that  others  have 
passed  along  this  road  before  us,  and  that  their 
experience  is  available  for  our  guidance.    We  may 
behold  as  in  a  mirror  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  even 
though  we  are  unable  directly  to  discern  its  heights 
and  depths  for  ourselves.    And  the  reflected  light 
is  bright  enough  to  enable  us  to  take  our  bearings 
and  to  shape  a  true  course. 

This  is  the  permanent  value  of  such  a  book  as 
the  Psalms,  which  sets  forth  the  variations  of  hu- 
man experience  which  belong  to  every  age.    Pass- 
ing mood  and  persistent  faith,  heartbreaking  frailty 
130 


TO  FLEE  OR  TO  FIGHT?  121 

and  untiring  grace  are  all  disclosed  there  for  our 
warning  and  heartening.     We  find  ourselves  on 
almost  every  page;  and  if  we  look  with  sufficient 
earnestness  we  find  our  Lord  also.     This  is  why 
in  these  present  days  we  turn  instinctively  to  the 
Psalms,  to  discover  that  they  are  altogether  mod- 
ern, and  to  find  them  mvested  with  an  understand- 
mg  of  our  immediate  needs,  and  with  the  power 
of  solvmg  our  perplexing  prohlems,  which  no  other 
portion  of  the   Sacred   Word   seems  to  possess 
from  them  we  learn  that  other  men  have  had  our 
temptations  and  have  overcome  them.     The  star- 
tling disloyalties  which  we  have  found  in  our  hearts 
staggered  them  also.     The  enigma  of  a  complex 
and  contradictory  personality  disturbed  their  faith 
and  made  them,  like  us,  wrestlers  in  the  dark.' 
They,  too,  formed  mistaken  judgments  and  yielded 
to  wrong  impulses.    But  ever  and  anon  thev  found 
in  God  the  ultimate  solution  of  their  difficulties 
the  harmony  of  their  contradictions,  the  correction 
of  their  errors,  and  the  reinforcement  of  their 
weaknesses.     For  His  love  never  lost  its  grip  of 
them,  even  when  they  were  most  unconscious  of  it 
rhey  were  found  of  Him  even  when  He  was  not 
sought  of  them.     This  is.  above  all  others,  the 
lesson  we  need  to  learn  and  relearn  in  days  when 
our  hearts  fail  us  for  very  fear. 

Who  has  not  said  of  late  with  David,  "  Oh  that 
I  had  wings  like  a  dove;  for  then  I  would  fly  mvav 
and  be  at  rest  .^"--expressing  thus,  as  we  thought 
a  pious  wish  to  have  done  with  this  war-ridden 


123       THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

earth  and  to  exchange  its  conflicts  for  Heaven's 
peace.  To  every  one  who  takes  his  spiritual  re- 
sponsibilities at  all  seriously  and  seeks  to  live 
strenuously,  there  have  come  hours  when  we  have 
felt  that  the  one  thing  desirable  was  to  escape 
from  life's  clash  and  clamour.  Wearied  in  body 
and  mind,  distracted  with  the  anxieties  of  the 
strife,  and  utterly  disappointed  at  the  seeming 
futility  of  honest  effort  to  arouse  moral  concern, 
we  are  apt  to  imagine  that,  if  we  could  only  get 
away  from  it  all,  we  should  be  at  rest.  And  so 
we  should — but  it  would  be  the  rest  of  death.  For 
it  is  no  worthy  prayer  either  on  David's  part  or 
ours,  that  we  should  escape  the  irksomeness  of 
our  burdens,  and  be  freed  from  the  vexations  of 
the  common  lot.  It  is  rather  the  futile  soliloquy 
of  one  who  has  lapsed  into  cowardice.  Its  aim  is 
unaffectedly  selfish;  and  it  is  good  both  for  David 
and  for  us,  that  God  does  not  heed  it. 


It  would  be  possible  to  adduce  many  illustrations 
and  to  suggest  many  applications  of  this  spirit  in 
modern  life.  Let  the  one  which  is  uppermost  in 
the  minds  of  many  suffice.  The  religion  of  Christ 
is  once  more  on  its  trial.  In  the  reconstruction 
which  will  follow  the  avalanche  of  war.  its  place 
in  national  life  will  be  largely  determined  by  the 
present  attitude  of  His  people  toward  the  tasks 
and  toils  which  none  can  now  rightly  avoid.  For 
young  men  to  evade  the  duty  of  courageous  self- 


■iSn\rSi4iiM»''^ 


TO  FLEE  OR  TO  FIGHT? 


123 


dedication;  for  others,  too  old  and  otherwise  in- 
capacitated, to  shirk  the  responsibiHty  of  personal 
service  and  sacrifice  under  the  specious  but  hollow 
plea  of  "business  as  usual";  for  women  to  seek 
for  themselves  or  th"ir  loved  ones  the  easy  and 
unburdened  life,  is  nothing  less  tlian  base  treachery 
to  the  1. 3rd.  It  is  selling  the  pass  to  the  enemy, 
for  any  who  call  themselves  by  Ilis  Xame  to  at- 
tempt to  "  fly  away  and  remain  in  the  wilderness," 
where  they  shall  be  no  longer  troubled  by  that 
summons  to  play  the  man  with  which  life  is 
vibrant  just  now. 

For  God  has  placed  us  where  we  are,  and  en- 
trusted us  with  such  powers  as  we  have,  for 
such  a  time  as  this.  \Vc  may  have  every  sym- 
pathy with  those  who  cannot  bring  themselves  to 
the  actual  taking  of  human  life;  but  there  are  a 
hundred  other  ways  of  serving  the  cause  which 
claims  us  all,  none  of  which  are  open  to  the  ques- 
tioning of  conscience.  And  if  any  of  us  puts 
personal  happiness  and  ease  before  the  doing  of 
duty  in  a  time  of  crisis  such  as  this,  we  betray 
His  honour  and  become  the  foe  of  His  inl  rests. 
For  when  the  task  of  victory  is  accomplished,  and 
the  Nation's  energies  are  free  to  rebuild  the  walls 
which  war  has  broken  down,  tliere  will  be  little 
place  accorded  to  that  religion  in  whose  name  men 
justified  themselves  when  they  came  not  to  the 
help  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty. 

There  is  no  more  enviable  record  than  that  of 
the  anonymous  host  of  God's  people  who  in  old 


124       THE  CONFIDENCE  OP  FAITH 

times  "were  tortured,  not  accepting  deliverance"— 
that  is,  not  Hying  away  when  occasion  served.  Such 
ones  always  obtain  the  better  resurrection  they 
seek.  Nor  is  there  anytliing  more  finely  character- 
istic of  the  great-hearted  .Apostle  than  the  supre- 
macy he  accorded  to  duty  which  countered  incli- 
nation. He  wrote  on  one  occasion  of  "  a  desire  to 
depart  and  to  be  with  Christ,  which  is  far  better," 
But  he  was  recalled  from  this  longing  to  fly  away 
and  be  at  rest,  by  the  consciousness  of  the  com- 
mission he  bore.  So  he  added.  "  .\cvertheless  to 
abide  in  the  flesh  is  more  needful  for  you.  And 
having  this  confldence,  I  know  that  I  shall  abide 
and  continue  with  you  all,  for  your  furtherance  "  I 
And  beyond  all  such  supplementary  inspirations 
is  the  supreme  example  of  the  Lord  I'iimself.  For 
He  was  sorely  tempted  as  we  all  arc,  in  this  very 
respect  of  fleeing  from  the  hanl  lot  of  sufTering. 
when  He  prayed  "  If  it  be  possible  let  this  cup  pass 
from  Me."  It  is  the  world's  salvation  that  in  that 
same  moment  He  banished  the  thought,  and  cried 
victoriously:  "Nevertheless  not  My  will  but 
Thine  be  done ! "  Who  follows  in  His  train  to- 
day? 


II 


When  we  feel  least  like  taking  up  the  unpleasant 
responsibilities  of  life,  or  most  long  to  escape  from 
its  drab  monotony,  our  only  safety  is  in  resolutely 
trampling  upon  the  wayward  inclination.  To 
parley  with  it,  or  to  attempt  to  make  terms,  is 


TO  FLEE  OR  TO  FIGHT?  ]2« 

disastrous.     Self-pity  is  of  all  things  the  most  in- 
excusable  in   those   who  have  cinl.raced  Christ's 
rule— and   the  most  deadlv.      I.„r  when   its  im- 
pulses are  followed  in  defiance  of  the  protests  of 
conscience,  so  that  pressing  ohliRation  is  success- 
fully avoided,  the  man  awakens  too  late,  only  to 
find  himself  impoverished  beyond   recovery.     In 
shunning  the  burden  and  refusing  the  conflict  he 
has  forfeited  the  qualities  which  make  ior  Chris- 
tian manhood,  and  which  arc  only  to  be  acquired 
by  the  courageous.     Since  also  he  has  taken  with 
htm  m  his  flight  from  the  place  of  duty  this  dis- 
position of  selfish  ease  which  would  have  fallen 
from  him  in  the  thrill  of  battle,  he  becomes  a  cer- 
tain victim  of  moral  paralysis.    For  its  fatal  germs 
seem  to  infect  the  atmosphere  of  tiiat  particnl-- 
wilderness  which  is  peopled  by  those  who  have 
unhappily  found  for  themselves  the  wings  of  a 
dove.    Thus  do  those  who  would  surely  have  real- 
ized their  true  lives  by  consecrating  themselves 
with  cheerfulness  to  the  service  of  God  and  man 
lose  all  that  gives  to  any  life  its  true  count 
For — 


"  The  life  that  counts  must  toil  and  fight, 
Must  hate  the  wrong  and  love  the  right, 
Must  stand  for  God  by  day  and  night— 
This  is  the  life  that  counts! 

The  life  that  counts  must  helpful  be, 
The  griefs  and  needs  of  others  see 


:i    r 


126       THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

Must  seek  the  slaves  of  sin  to  free — 
This  is  the  Hfe  that  counts! 

The  life  that  counts  must  hopeful  be, 
In  darkest  night  make  melody, 
Must  wait  the  dawn  on  bended  knee — 
This  is  the  life  that  counts!  " 

And  it  is  for  such  lives  that  the  hour  calls.  It  is 
by  their  moral  passion  and  courage  alone  that  the 
Nailed  Hand  will  be  victorious  over  the  mailed 
fist.  How  much  worthier  is  it  to  stand  with  Him 
at  all  cost,  than  to  seek  an  easy  and  dishonourable 
escape  I 


It  will  save  us  in  our  most  depressed  hours, 
when  the  seeming  disproportion  between  the  heavy 
demands  of  duty  and  our  own  slender  strength 
challenges  and  tempts  us,  if  we  bear  well  in  mind 
one  or  two  quite  obvious  and  simple  facts.  And 
we  can  only  be  sure  of  doing  this  when  life's  great 
issues  are  in  question,  if  we  habitually  dwell  upon 
them  in  ordinary  days,  and  weave  them  at  all  times 
into  life's  warp  and  woof.  One  is.  that  others 
all  round  about  us  are  supporting  greater  needs 
and  heavier  burdens,  and  are  called  upon  to  make 
far  costlier  sacrifices  than  our  own.  It  was  true 
philosophy  as  well  as  inspired  precept  which  bade 
men  of  an  earlier  day  "  look  upon  the  things  of 
others";  for  there  is  no  more  certain  corrective 


TO  FLEE  OR  TO  FIGHT?  127 

of  selfishness.  And  to  <.II  whc  ar,  tempted  to 
think  that  life  in  these  d  ^y,^  :s  too  mich  for  them, 
and  to  flee  their  embaruv;.;i-ien»s,  \,e  venture  to 
suggest  this  same  course.  Go  and  pay  a  visit  to 
someone  who  really  knows  what  poverty  is.  Enter 
mto  the  life  of  one  who  is  battling  with  sorer 
temptation  than  you  have  ever  known.  Acquaint 
yourself— as  with  a  little  tact  you  easily  may— 
with  the  magnificent  struggle  that  many  young 
men  and  women  in  our  cities  are  waging  in  order 
to  keep  their  garments  unspotted  from  the  world. 
Go  and  see  the  radiant  faith  of  some  old  bed-ridden 
saint  who  praises  God  continually  for  mercies 
which  are  almost  invisible  to  every  one  but  herself. 
And  it  will  fill  your  heart  with  hot  shame  because 
of  your  cowardice,  and  send  you  back  to  take  up 
the  thing  from  which  you  thought  you  must  fly, 
with  chastened  gladness  that  God  should  still  count 
you  worthy. 

Another  thing— and  the  greatest— which  saves 
us  from  the  perilous  desire  of  opportune  desertion, 
is  constantly  to  review  the  mercies  of  God,  of 
which  every  life  is  a  compendium.  "  His  love  in 
time  past  "  gives  the  lie  direct  to  our  craven  fear; 
since  it  "  confirms  His  good  pleasure  to  bring  us 
right  through  "—if  we  but  company  with  Him. 
The  Cross  of  Calvary  stands  between  us  and 
shameful  flight.  And  it  is  well  for  us  to  live 
under  its  shadow.  For  there  th"  memory  of  that 
hour  when  the  light  of  Heaven  broke  through  our 
sm-gloom,  when  the  burden  of  guilt  rolled  away 


12S       THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

for  ever,  when  we  caught  our  first  glimpses  of 
the  Glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ,  is 
quickened  into  positive  and  constant  force.  There 
conviction  become  constraint,  and  the  depression 
which  makes  men  cowards  is  blown  away  as  by  the 
bracing  winds  of  God.  There  we  lose  all  desire 
for  the  wings  of  a  dove,  finding  instead  the  wings 
of  an  eagle,  on  which  we  mount  up  to  view  life 
steadily  and  as  a  whole,  and  to  receive  renewals 
of  strength  for  running  without  weariness  and  for 
walking  without  faintness.  And  there  men  are 
made  untiring  servants  and  unfearing  soldiers  un- 
der the  inspiration  of  the  Love  that  will  not  let 
them  go. 

Is  it  too  much  to  say  that  God  ind  the  Nation 
alike  call  for  the  uttermost  devotion  of  all  such, 
in  this  day  when  that  righteousness,  peace,  and 
joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost  for  which  Christ's  King- 
dom stands  is  challenged  by  organized  unbelief 
and  personified  devilry?  To  flee  or  to  fight  is  the 
issue  which  confronts  us  all.  And  upon  your  de- 
termination and  mine  how  much  depends ! 


XVI 
WHERE   YOUR    TREASURE  IS 

"Lay  not  up  for  yourselves  treasures  upon  the  earth"— 
Matthew  vi:  19. 

WE  have  witnessed  in  these  days  the  bank- 
ruptcy and  total  failure  of  the  best  and 
most  lauded  philosophical  systems  of 
life.  The  upheaval  of  international  relationships, 
which  has  manifested  the  worst  passions  of  men 
and  has  brought  sorrow  into  countless  homes,  so 
that  for  this  generation  at  least  life  can  never  again 
be  what  we  have  known  it,  has  done  more  also. 
It  has  forced  us  all  to  recognize  that  something 
vital  is  lacking  in  their  commonly-accepted  founda- 
tions and  impulses  of  conduct.  It  has  given  rise 
to  an  uneasy  consciousness  that  we  have  hitherto 
been  looking  in  a  wrong  direction  for  the  perma- 
nent elements  of  good  in  individual  and  national 
life  alike.  There  is  general  admission  on  the  part 
of  serious  people — and  who  is  not  serious  to-day? 
—that  our  expectations  have  been  disappointed  be- 
cause our  formulae  have  been  mistaken. 

In    these   circumstances,    we   believe   that    the 

Gospel  of  Christ  will  come  into  its  own.    The  old 

cry,  "  Back  to  Christ,"  is  acquiring  new  meanings 

in  the  present  changing  order;  and  there  are  evi- 

139 


130       THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

dences  for  which  a  short  time  ago  we  should  have 
looked  in  vain,  that  men  are  beginning  to  reahze 
that  His  is  the  only  sure  way  of  life.  From  the 
sad  welter  cf  war,  from  devas'ited  cities  and 
ruined  fields,  and  from  the  wreckage  of  outraged 
ideals,  eyes  are  being  v.istfuUy  lifted  to  the  Hills 
from  whence  help  can  alone  come.  And  in  these 
red  skies  we  seen  the  sign  of  the  Son  of  Man. 
With  the  utter  failure  of  kingdoms  founded  on 
force,  .-tif-assertion,  and  ambition,  the  Gospel  of 
that  Kingdom  broad-based  on  the  eternal  nature 
of  God,  and  established  in  the  hearts  of  His  re- 
deemed, is  invested  with  new  significance.  The 
future  alike  of  ourselves  and  of  the  Nation  depends 
entirely  upon  sincere  surrender  to  Christ's  guid- 
ance concerning  life's  fundamental  and  essential 
things. 

It  is  characteristic  of  Christ  that  His  teaching 
is  never  in  the  form  of  mere  moral  abstraction. 
While  He  proclaimed  principles  of  conduct,  He 
was  always  at  pains  to  show  also  their  point  of 
application  to  human  circumstance.  While  cover- 
ing the  widest  range  of  interests  which  are  contem- 
porary with  every  age,  He  stripped  many  things 
of  their  fancied  importance,  and  revealed  the  really 
necessary  things  of  life  to  be  but  few  and  simple. 
In  doing  this  He  naturally  alienated  the  sympa- 
thies of  many.  His  words  both  wooed  and  win- 
nowed them.  His  presence  in  their  midst  was  at 
once  a  drawing  and  a  driving  force.  For  though 
they  were  quick  to  discern  the  ethical  perfection 


WHERE    YOUR    TREASURE    IS        131 

of  His  teaching,  they  also  realized  its  demands 
upon  their  faith  and  courage.  Nor  had  they,  as 
we  have,  the  compelling  imperative  of  Calvary,  nor 
the  supporting  dynamic  of  Pentecost.  Hence, 
while  their  failure  to  follow  Him  may  not  be  alto- 
gether inexplicable  and  inexcusable,  ours  is.  Espe- 
cially when,  as  now,  it  is  demonstrated  beyond  all 
doubt  that  there  is  no  alternative  to  the  narrow 
pathway  for  those  who  aspire  to  the  true  life. 


Christ's  view  of  life  as  an  investment  is  revo- 
lutionary.    We  are  accustomed  to  concern  our- 
selves solely  with  its  expenditure — He  with  its 
product.    Thus  it  is  that  we  have  been  surprised 
and  dismayed  at  the  coming  of  these  present  woes, 
not  seeing  in  them  the  inevitable  outcome  of  wide- 
spread devotion  to  immediate  advantage  and  ma- 
terial profit.    Life  is,  on  the  whole,  wonderfully 
just.    In  its  ultimate  reckoning  men  and  nations 
get  precisely  that  for  which  they  have  fitted  them- 
selves.    And  all  Christ's  fxhortations  are  based 
upon  this  immutable  law.    In  His  searching  analy- 
sis of  the  common  attitudes  and  ener^.,s  of  the 
soul,  He  bids  us — "Lay  not  up  for  yourselves 
treasures  upon  the  earth,  where  moth  and  rust 
doth  corrupt,  and  where  thieves  br^ak  through  and 
steal.     But  lay  up  for  yourselves  treasures  in 
Heaven,  zvhere  neither  moth  nor  rust  doth  corrupt 
and  where  thieves  do  not  break  thro'-gh  nor  steal. 


Jil 


132       THE  CONFIDENCE  OP  FAITH 

For  where  your  treasure  is  there  will  your  heart 
be  also." 

Here  are  the  two  great  conflicting  and  mutually 
subversive  ideals  of  good  which  divide  mankind, 
and  which  are  so  i'lsistent  that  none  ever  escapes 
the  necessity  of  adopting  either  one  or  the  other. 
This  setting  of  them  forth  in  antithesis  implies 
that  success  in  respect  of  the  one  involves  loss  in 
respect  of  the  other.  Earthly  treasure  is  only  laid 
up  as  Heavenly  treasure  is  laid  down.  And  the 
inversion  is  true  also;  for  Heavenly  treasure  can 
only  be  acquired  as  the  earthly  is  renounced.  At 
the  heart  of  all  human  life  is  obligatory  sacrifice. 
Itn  issues  are  for  ever  determined  as  individual 
choice  is  made  of  alternative  renunciation. 

Let  it  not  be  thought  for  a  moment  that  Christ 
inculcates  any  lack  of  prudence  in  connection  with 
material  things,  or  any  disregard  of  secular  duties. 
He  puts  no  premium  either  upon  asceticism,  or 
upon  carelessness  concerning  human  obligations. 
An  astronomical  telesco]  ^  of  necessity  shuts  out 
a  great  deal  from  the  view  of  the  user,  in  order 
to  bring  the  objective  within  focus.  And  Christ's 
Word  has  this  function  also.  He  compels  consid- 
eration of  concerns  supremely  important;  and 
directs  the  soul's  vision  upon  the  things  that  really 
matter.  His  strong  protest  is  against  the  undue 
secularizing  of  life,  a  process  which  is  uncon- 
sciously effected  by  reason  of  men's  keenness  after 
things  of  earth.  He  warns  us  of  the  worthlessness 
of  ideals  which  may  be  outgrown.    Since  we  are 


WHERE   YOUR   TREASURE    IS       133 

not  children  of  time  but  of  eternity,  it  is  the  veriest 
folly  to  devote  the  strength  of  life  to  the  gathering 
of  treasure  which  cannot  be  converted  into  the 
currency  of  the  Homeland  whither  we  journey. 
And  yet  is  not  this  the  very  thing  that  professed 
Christian  men  are  doing  all  around  us  ?  And  is 
not  this  long-continued  disregard  of  life's  spiritual 
meaning  and  value  upon  the  part  of  leaders  and 
people  alike,  the  ultimate  cause  of  the  wholesale 
suffering  and  bloodshed  at  which  we  all  now  stand 
aghast?  Are  not  these  things  the  Nemesis  of  lay- 
ing up  treasure  upon  the  earth,  in  defiance  of  the 
injunctions  of  Him  Who  was  never  ignorant  of 
what  was  in  man? 


It  is  not  because  there  is  obvious  risk  of  losing 
them  to  moth,  and  rust,  and  thief,  that  Christ  coun- 
sels against  the  investment  of  life  in  treasures 
upon  the  earth.  The  real  point,  both  of  the  dis- 
suasion and  persuasion  of  this  His  Word,  is  in 
the  explanation  of  each  which  He  furnishes,— 
"  for  where  your  treasure  is,  there  will  your  heart 
be  also."  It  is  not  that  earthly  treasure  is  exposed 
to  danger,  but  that  the  man  himself  who  labours 
to  lay  it  up  is  imperilled.  Devotion  to  any  cause 
writes,  as  we  know,  its  indelible  record  on  the 
character.  And  if  the  treasure  of  any  life  is  such 
as  to  be  liable  to  deterioration,  so  too  is  th<"  heart 
•wnich  abides  with  it.  If  it  is  laid  up  where  the 
ravages  of  moth  and  the  corrosions  of  rust  can 


134       THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 


despoil  it,  tliesc  same  evils  will  also  attack  its  pos- 
sessor. Christ's  argument  is  not  that  earthly 
treasure  is  insecure, — for  such  a  fact  did  not  need 
insistence  by  Him, — but  that  it  is  infective.  His 
warning  is  not  that  a  man  may  lose  the  thing  he 
lives  for,  but  that  he  may  actually  lose  himself. 
And  it  receives  undeniable  attestation  in  the  ex- 
perience of  individuals  and  of  nations. 

This  is  the  explanation  of  strange  loss  of  quality 
in  many  a  life  once  bright  with  promise.  The 
moth  has  fretted  its  garment  of  holiness.  The 
rust  has  eaten  into  the  brightness  of  its  witness. 
Prayerlessness,  heedlessness,  and  selfishness  have 
become  the  fixed  habits  of  the  soul.  A  growing 
indisposition  for  the  things  of  God,  and  an  in- 
creasing satisfaction  in  mere  earthliness,  declare 
the  work  of  a  thief  who  has  found  entrance  to  an 
unguarded  heart.  And  from  every  such  life  in  our 
midst — and  there  are  many — Christ's  warning 
word  is  unconsciously  re-echoed :  "  Lay  not  up 
for  yourselves  treasures  upon  the  earth." 

This  is  the  explanation  of  national  deterioration 
also.  Confining  our  view  to  our  own  land — 
though  well  aware  that  everything  said  of  our- 
selves in  this  connection  is  true  also  of  our  Allies 
and  our  Foes — do  we  not  see  on  every  hand  that 
devotion  to  earthly  things  has  despoiled  our  na- 
tional soul  ?  Despite  the  unhindered  proclamation 
of  the  Divine  Will,  and  the  undimmed  shining  of 
the  Lamp  of  Truth  which  the  Nation  has  enjoyed 
for  so  long,  we  have  as  a  people  largely  given  our- 


WHERE    YOUR   TREASURE   IS       135 

selves  up  to  our  own  wavs.  Prophets  here  and 
there,  some  within  the  Cimrches  and  some  quite 
outside  all  organized  religion,  have  declaimed 
against  the  enthroned  wo;ldliness  and  the  banished 
godliness  by  which  the  common  aspirations  of  our 
peoples  have  been  revealed.  But  they  have  been 
for  the  most  part  as  voices  crying  in  the  wilderness. 
It  has  been  easy  to  dub  them  kill-jovs,  and  on  the 
plea  of  larger  freedom  and  fuller  'life  to  refuse 
their  message  as  obscurantist.  Now,  however,  the 
thunders  of  war  have  taken  up  the  burden  which 
the  human  voice  declared  in  vain,  and  the  world 
reverberates  witii  the  injunction  which  can  no 
longer  be  unheeded :  "Lay  not  up  for  yourselves 
treasures  upon  the  earth." 

Is  the  Nation  going  to  recover  herself  by  a 
sincere  moral  volte  face?  We  have  to  confess  that 
so  far  there  are  few,  if  anv,  signs  of  promise;  and 
It  is  on  this  account  that  \ic  fear  we  may  possibly 
have  still  to  suffer  more  keenly.  For  it  cannot  be 
that  God  will  withdraw  the  judgments  let  loose 
upon  us  until  we  have  learned  righteousness. 

Aiid  is  the  professed  Church  going  to  find  her 
soul  in  this  hour,  great  with  the  destinies  of  men  ? 
Again  we  must  admit  that  we  see  little  evidence 
that  she  is  shaking  herself  from  the  dust  and  put- 
ting on  her  beautiful  garments.  Too  long  and  too 
closely  allied  with  the  world  in  defiance  of  the 
command  of  her  Head,  the  moth  and  rust  have 
eaten  deeply  into  her  life.  Now  when  she  should 
give  a  clear  lead  to  the  Nation  in  regard  to  re- 


138       THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

pentance  and  return  to  God,  a  lost  voice  reveals 
a  lost  soul.  And  this  calamity  is  the  outcome  of 
failure  to  seek  those  things  that  are  above  as  her 
true  riches,  the  certain  consequence  of  laying  up 
treasure  on  earth. 


The  correlative  of  Christ's  warning  is  His  un- 
qualified encouragement.  If  men  will  invest  life 
in  the  things  which  are  abiding,  they  shall  find 
within  themselves  the  miracle  of  a  transformed 
spirit.  The  heart  becomes  increasingly  Heavenly- 
minded  as  every  energ;  i-  devoted  to  the  strenuous 
business  of  laying  up  li.c  treasure  that  is  immune 
from  all  destructive  influences.  Nor  can  anything 
disturb  its  confidence  and  peace.  It  was  one  who 
had  put  Christ's  Word  to  the  test  and  had  found 
it  t:ae  who  sang, 

"  I  stand  upon  the  Mount  of  God, 

With  sunlight  in  my  soul; 
I  see  the  storms  in  vales  beneath, 

I  hear  the  thunders  roll; 
But  I  am  calm  with  Thee  my  God, 

Beneath  these  glorious  skies; 
And  to  the  height  on  which  I  stand 

No  storm  nor  cloud  can  rise." 


Surely  this  is  the  experience  which  all  must  seek 
in  a  day  when  every  house  built  upon  earth's  sand 
is  threatened.    That  it  is  possible  so  to  live  above 


WHERE    YOUR    TREASURE    IS        187 

"the  changes  and  chances  of  this  mortal  life  "  is 
part  of  the  glory  of  the  Gospel.  And  that  the 
man  who  has  so  learned  Christ  is  able  to  shed 
abroad  the  spirit  of  peace  and  the  calm  of  God 
upon  the  troubled  and  tempest-tossed  world  at 
this  present,  is  part  of  life's  truest  opportunity. 
For  no  better  service  can  be  rendered  by  any  than 
to  give  full  proof  of  this  Word  of  Christ  as  the 
sure  foundation  of  every  good  to  his  own  genera- 
tion. 

If  these  things  are  so,  then  there  is  nothing  more 
to  be  said.  But  there  is  everything  to  be  done. 
And  that  by  each  one  of  us. 


XVII 
NOT  TO  DESTROY,  BUT  TO  FULFIL 

"  /  came  nol  to  destroy  but  to  fulfil."— MAnazw  v :  17. 

IT  has  been  well  said  that  he  who  would  speak  to 
the  times  must  speak  from  Eternity.  The  only 
satisfying  interpretation  of  life  is  that  which 
we  get  when  we  stand  upon  the  hills  of  God,  where 
by  the  side  of  Christ  we  arc  able  to  see  things  in 
their  true  proportion  and  perspective.  Unaided 
and  unelevated  vision  is  bound  to  be  mistaken.  It 
is  only  in  His  light  that  we  see  light.  And  nothing 
is  more  needed  to-day  than  that  we  should  look 
out  upon  life,  not  as  an  insoluble  mystery,  and 
upon  its  happenings,  not  as  a  hopeless  tangle,  but 
as  the  expression  of  the  everlasting  nature  of  God. 
That  Christ  once  came,  declaring  fully  and  finally 
the  principles  and  the  purpose  of  the  Divine  Gov- 
ernment, makes  it  possible  so  to  regard  life,  even 
in  its  most  troublous  days,  without  fear  or  panic. 
To  attempt,  however,  to  understand  its  changing 
experiences  apart  from  Him  is  sheer  folly  and 
hopeless  darkness.  Christ  has  not  only  the  keys 
of  death  and  hell,  but  of  Life  also.  He  openeth, 
and  no  man  can  shut.  He  shutteth,  and  no  man 
can  open. 

18S 


NOT  TO  DESTROY,  BUT  FULFIL     139 

This  is  the  siKiiilicancc  of  His  sclf-dtclaration — 
"/  came  not  to  destroy  but  to  fulfil."  Spoken  at 
first  to  correct  the  popular  view  which  regarded 
Him  as  a  mere  iconoclast,  it  does  much  more.  It 
announces  the  entire  purpnsc  of  His  mission  among 
men.  and  explains  nnicli  tliat  is  otherwise  obscure 
in  His  duings  both  then  and  now.  Tor  in  the 
redemption  of  individual  life,  and  in  the  recon- 
struction of  the  social  order.  Christ  must  uproot 
before  He  can  plant.  He  must  cast  down  before 
He  can  build  up.  He  must  overturn  before  He 
can  establish.  Then  if  He  seems  to  destroy,  it 
is  only  as  a  process  in  the  greater  work.  Never 
so  much  as  now  did  we  need  to  bear  in  mind  this 
explanation  of  His  method. 

We  see  its  illustration  in  His  attitude  towards 
the  ancient  faith  of  Judaism.  Christ  did  not  de- 
stroy the  Law  and  the  Prophets.  AVhat  He  did 
wa.'  to  disentangle  Eternal  Truth  from  limited 
fori  ssion.     If  this  appeared  to  be  de- 

str.  -d  ceremonial  observance,  it  was 

on..       di   >  Truth  might  be  liberated  from 

every  ic.iiiictnig  form,  henceforth  to  be  preserved 
in  the  devotion  of  men's  hearts.  The  husk  must 
be  broken  and  cast  aside,  that  the  living  seed 
within  may  be  secured  for  its  true  use.  We  are 
profoundly  convinced  that  a  true  perception  of  this 
His  way  will  enable  us  to  harmonize  our  perplex- 
ing experiences  with  His  unchanged  purposes,  and 
to  receive  His  discipline — whether  individual,  so- 
cial, national,  or  universal — as  being  entirely  con- 


140       THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

sistent  with  His  love.     From  how  much  uncer- 
tainty and  fear  will  this  save  us ! 


In  regard  to  the  life  of  the  Nation,  we  do  well 
to  recognize  Him  at  work  in  these  days.  One 
frequently  hears  men  saying,  with  a  gloomy  air 
of  finality,  that  much  of  our  civilization  has  been 
destroyed.  Of  course  the  Christian's  answer  to 
this  is  that  a  great  deal  of  it  needed  to  be  de- 
stroyed !  For  Christ's  rule  would  be  scarcely  moral 
if  it  did  not  involve  the  destruction  of  much  which 
has  of  late  years  been  robbing  the  Nation  of  its 
soul.  And  it  is  difficult  to  imagine  any  circum- 
stances but  those  which  have  now  come  upon  us 
which  would  be  effective  in  this  respect.  Some- 
thing in  the  nature  of  a  great  and  overwhelming 
calamity  simply  had  to  come,  in  order  to  arrest 
and  bring  to  an  end  the  flippant  folly  which  was 
beginning  to  characterize  every  class  of  society  to 
an  alarming  degree.  Now,  under  the  stress  of  a  war 
which,  although  God  did  not  create.  He  allows, 
much  of  all  this  is  being  practically  destroyed. 
And  we  are  all  conscious  that  the  end  in  this  re- 
spect is  not  yet.  As  a  matter  of  fact.  He  is  but 
making  it  possible  for  us  to  realize  our  highest 
good  by  the  destruction  of  nothing  but  that  which 
is  itself  destructive.  He  is  purging  a  branch 
which  once  brought  forth  fruit  for  the  healing  of 
the  nations,  that  it  may  bring  forth  more  fruit. 
Do  we  not  see  the  beginnings  of  Christ's  purpose 


NOT  TO  DESTROY,  BUT  FULFIL    141 

of  fulfilment  in  the  spirit  of  sacrifice  which  has 
been  evoked  in  all  classes,  the  resolute  determina- 
tion which  is  binding  the  whole  Empire — that 
nothing  shall  be  permitted  to  stand  between  us  and 
the  victory  of  a  righteous  cause — and  the  unmur- 
muring submission  by  which  new  burdens  are  being 
taken  up  and  cheerfully  borne?  For  it  is  by  these 
things  that  the  selfishness,  the  boastfulness,  and  the 
shallowness  of  former  days  are  being  replaced. 
Destruction  there  certainly  is,  but  only  such  as  is 
necessitated  by  the  fulfilment  of  Divinely-ordered 
destiny. 

And  what  of  the  splendid  young  life  which  is 
being  devoted  without  a  murmur  in  response  to 
the  high  call  of  duty?  This  is  not  destruction. 
For  each  has  discovered  the  true  purpose  of  his 
life, — to  spend  and  be  spent  for  the  resisting  of 
evil,  the  protection  of  the  weak,  and  the  es- 
tablishment of  righteousness.  To  many  of  our 
young  men  this  war  has  come  as  a  positive  redemp- 
tion from  vain,  empty,  and  worthless  living.  Their 
lives  have  been  redeemed  from  destruction,  even 
though  they  go  to  death.  And  like  the  falling 
leaves  of  autumn  they  will  yet  live  again  in  the 
fruit  of  the  earth  which  has  been  enriched  by  their 
sacrifice.  In  the  final  analysis,  this  is  not  a  war 
of  destruction,  but  of  fulfilment. 


No  man  who  has  himself  companied  with  Christ, 
needs  to  look  beyond  his  own  life  for  confirma- 


142       THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

tion  that  this  is  the  only  possible  interpretation  of 
God's  present  energies.  For  although  He  does 
not  break  the  already-bruised  reed,  nor  stamp  out 
the  dimly-burning  flax,  His  influence  is  positively 
destructive  of  much  that  finds  unquestioned  place 
in  our  lives.  There  are  motives,  habits,  and  aims 
which  simply  cannot  live  in  His  presence.  As  the 
micro-organisms  of  disease  are  sterilized  by  the 
action  of  sunshine,  so  the  light  of  Christ's  fellow- 
ship destroys  the  germs  of  passion,  of  envy,  and 
of  all  evil.  For  since  every  sin  is  just  the  inver- 
sion of  goodness,  and  every  waywardness  the  ex- 
pression of  capacity,  Christ  takes  our  misdirected 
moral  energy  and  diverts  it  by  the  infusion  of  His 
Spirit  into  channels  of  worthy  endeavour.  He 
converts  our  antagonisms  into  loyalties,  and  our 
antipathies  into  enthusiasms  for  the  worthy  serv- 
ice of  life.  While  He  seems  to  be  frustrating.  He 
is  actually  purifying  the  aspirations  of  the  soul,  de- 
stroying only  that  which  is  inimical  to  the  fulfil- 
ment of  that  which  is  deepest  in  us,  and  highest 
in  God. 

If  we  but  read  the  experiences  of  our  own  lives 
aright,  we  shall  have  no  doubt  as  to  what  is  actually 
happening  around  us.  For,  whether  in  the  realm 
of  individual  interest  or  of  National  concern.  He 
cannot  deny  Himself.  This  is  the  confidence  of 
the  sons  of  God  in  a  world  which  seems  just  now 
to  be  one  vast  grave  of  destroyed  hopes.  With 
Him  death  is  never  final. 


NOT  TO  DESTROY,  BUT  FULFIL     143 


in 
If  this  is  a  worthy  and  dependable  interpretation 
of  Christ,  there  should  be  a  growing  approxima- 
tion to  Him  in  the  lives  of  His  people.    Our  in- 
fluence must  be  directed,  not  toward  destruction, 
but  fulfilment.    For  we  are  here  to  represent  Him' 
and  to  carry  on  His  work.     That  there  is  much 
to  be  destroyed  in  the  lives  of  those  among  whom 
we  serve,  is  obvious.    But  it  can  only  be  effected 
by  Christ's  own  method.     What  is  most  needed 
m  those  around  us  is  not  the  destructive  word  of 
condemnation,  so  much  as  the  encouraging  spirit 
of  comradeship.    The  beginnings  of  goodness,  of 
reverence,  and  of  drawing  to  God  have  often  been 
destroyed  by  the  un-Christlikeness  of  those  whose 
duty  It  was  to  manifest  His  Spirit.    On  the  other 
hand,  the  warm  sympathy  which  He  ever  showed 
toward  even  the  feeblest  desires  after  God,  and 
which  encouraged  and  stimulated  the  most  unlikely 
in  their  endeavours,  has  often  guided  and  saved 
despairing  hearts  when  manifested  through  His 
followers.    And  it  is  for  this  ministry  on  the  part 
of  us  all  that  these  days  call.    We  can  do  more 
for  those  around  us  in  their  need,  for  the  Church 
m  her  feebleness,  and  for  the  Nation  in  its  moral 
want,  by  our  own  endeavour  to  live  Christ,  than 
by  anything  else.    Here  is  service  for  all  who  name 
His  Name.    There  is  no  worthier  aim  on  the  part 
of  those  to  whom  other  service  is  impossible  than 
is  expressed  by  the  man  who  said: 


144       THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

pol^mty  "for"the°"<f„e°''T""'*^  °^  ""paralleled 
C^^rhtJillJ,,^i^^'''^;°-;^^  'f°^'^iP  with 

TK    final  inluencrofsuch  a  lf^t"°'^°'^• 
nleasure.     For  thp  in.,      .-         ^^  '^  *'«yond  all 

ing  in  these  respecshir""/^  ^^"''''  '«<^h- 
eternal  projection     SeJ'!.f.''^^^"'P"ve  ^^'"e  of 

to  live  construct"  vely  as  H^'  ^Z  '"*^  ^"''  -■"« 
these,  when  thegrlatest  nf^?  ""l^-""  ^^^^^  ''"'^e 
of  His  energy  and  In  ,c  "'"^'  ''  °^  ^  ^'^P'^-X 
ai-    Letus^^L^rt^rtX"'^  ""^^^""^ 


XVIII 
THE  LONG  VIEW  OF  LIFE 

,^^f'^^r<t'- -Jon„  xiii:36;  Howws  xii:.,;  P,,,^ 

AS  only  in  the  darkness  of  night  can  we  see 

^  in  ^'^  1"'^'  °^  '^'  ^'"^'  «°  in  days  of 
of  rnH'f  r     '"''  ''•"'  ^'^'  '^'  P^«^^"t  the  Word 

diy  thi?"  Th"!  T°  ""t'l  "r  "'"^  '''  ^eah•zing^^ 
aay  that  The  Lord  hath  yet  more  light  and  tn.rt, 
to  break  forth  from  His  Word."  For  when  hearts 
are  weighed  down  with  anxiety,  and  life^  o,S 
.s  clouded  with  darkening  fear  tha  Word  be 
comes  mstmct  with  meaning  which  in  gladder  days" 
was  never  discerned.  Amongst  other  thinl  T 
urgen  warning  against  the  mLke  of  looWn'^'o^ 

ihJT  ^2  '  ^^'"'"^  "^«'  emphasis.  Nor  is 
there  anything  to  which  we  so  need  to  give  heed 
For  when  we  habitually  take  short  ^ewT:f  Hft 
there  ,s  danger  of  our  judging  God  and  His  wavs 
with  men  as  though  the  only  available  dLTr 
a  right  reading  of  His  character  and  work  were 
he  experience  of  the  present.  When  we  are  tTken 
up  with  things  dose  at  hand,  whether  of  paS  or 
pleasure,  we  are  apt  to  lose  a  sense  of  pro^rtion 

145 


!?'■ 


146       THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

and  perspective.  It  is  thus  that  a  spirit  of  resent- 
ment against  God's  doings— as  though  they  were 
not  equal— rs  generated;  which,  almost  more  than 
any  other  attitude  toward  Him,  is  disastrous  in 
Its  recoil  upon  the  soul. 

God's  ways  are  only  intelligible  to  His  people 
in  the  light  of  their  uhimate  purpose.    Hence  the 
value  of  cultivating  the  long  view  of  life.     For 
we  are  not  mere  children  of  time,  but  of  Eternity. 
Beyond  the  horizon  toward  which  we  journey  is 
^I'rl  '^"'^~"°'  °f  tf'e  sunset,  but  of  the  sunrise. 
When  the  noise  and  smoke  and  din  of  war  have  all 
blown  away  there  will  yet  unfold  before  our  gaze 
the  fair  land  of  peace.     The  Potter's  House  in 
which  the  clay  is  moulded  by  pressure  of  His  hand 
is  not  our  dwelling-place.    It  is  only  a  halt  on  the 
way  to  the  King's  Palace,  where  vessels  meet  for 
the  Master's  use  will  find  their  true  service.     We 
are  not  for  ever  to  be  on  the  looms  amid  the  flying 
shuttles   and   intersecting  threads   of   mystifying 
providences.     The  schoolroom  where,  under  the 
discipline  of  perfect  Love  and  Wisdom,  our  les- 
sons  are  so  often  sent  back  to  us  to  be  relearned, 
is  not  life's  final  goal.    We  are  merely  being  fitted 
there  for  the  strenuous  service  of  Christ's  Empire. 
Therefore,  while  there  is  no  suggestion  that  the 
present  should  be  disregarded,  there  is  strong  rea- 
son why  we  should   not  unduly  dwell  upon  it. 
Indeed,  we  cannot  escape  the  present  even  if  we 
would;  its  pain  and  perplexity  press  too  hard  upon 
us  for  that.     But  we  must  beware  of  the  short- 


THE  LONG  VIEW  OF  LIFE         147 

sightedness  of  those  who  forget  that  they  have 
been  cleansed  from  their  old  sins,  and  have  thus 
within  themselvt,  an  experience  of  miracle  which 
is  prophetic  of  Christ's  ultimate  enthronement  and 
supremacy  over  all. 


"  Thou  canst  not  follow  Me  now;  but  thou  shall 
follow  Me  afterwards."  Thus  does  Christ  in- 
culcate the  long  view  of  life  in  regard  to  personal 
discipleship.  Ere  Peter  can  follow  him  fully,  as  his 
heart  desires,  he  must  come  to  understand  the  fact 
of  his  own  weakness,  to  recognize  the  instability 
of  his  own  purpose,  and  to  accept  the  humiliating 
truth  of  the  inadequacy  of  his  own  energy.  This 
can  only  be  as  he  is  brought  into  conflict  with  a 
strength  of  temptation  before  which  he  utterly 
breaks  down.  In  that  hour  of  self-discovery  he 
learns,  in  a  spirit  of  humility  to  which  he  has  hith- 
erto been  stranger,  how  his  ideals  can  alone  be 
realized. 

So,  too  it  is  with  us.  Worsted  as  we  often  are 
in  unequal  contest  with  forces  we  cannot  master, 
we  come  at  last  to  an  end  of  ourselves,  and  admit 
that  in  us  dwells  no  good  thing.  That  is  one 
of  the  great  hours  of  life  for  us.  For  it  is  then 
that  Christ's  assurance — "thou  shall  follow  Me 
afterwards "  comes  both  to  save  us  from  de- 
spair and  to  encourage  us  to  new  and  better  be- 
ginnings. Having  learned  our  weakness  we  are 
thankful   to   link   ourselves   in   utter   self-aban- 


MmF^^^^^m^^^jmmm 


148 


THE  CONFroENCE  OF  FAITH 


donment  to  His  Almighty  power     Convince)     t 
at  last  upon  the  Path  of  Life     Thi^'.u-   "^ 

long  view  of  life     Onl    k        "^^  ""'^  *°  *^^^  '^e 
plain  tea^hbi  thatch!''   "'  ^'"'"^  '^'^'^  *°  Christ's 

the  long  vTew  be^mf 'f"''!  °^  "'^  P°^"'  =^ 
insistent^  t  Let  us  h  .  T^"  *^^"""y  °^ 
our  failures%^^'„t„'  ^b  f-„?1iffr  °^ 

and  self-abase^t;  oVSeS  feu^f oStiK^ 
but  the  prelude  to  a  full  knowledge  of  H,^;[* 


THE  LONG  VIEW  OF  LIFE 


149 


which  life  shall  yet  be  reconstructed  to  the  service 
of  His  will. 


"Now  no  chastening  for  the  present  seemeth  to 
be  joyous,  but  grievous:  nevertheless,  afterward 
it  yielded  the  peaceable  fruit  of  righteousness." 
Thus,  also,  in  respect  of  discipline  as  of  disciple- 
ship,  we  need  to  cultivate  the  long  view.  There  is 
nothing  quite  so  blinding  as  the  experiences  of 
sorrow  and  disappointment  which  are  Love's  veiled 
sacrament  of  discipline  to  the  soul.  When  God 
so  deals  with  us — never  for  His  own  pleasure 
but  always  for  our  profit,  that  we  may  become 
partakers  of  His  holiness — we  are  in  danger  of 
forgetting  the  preparatory  character  of  life.  For 
we  are  not  yet  in  a  state  of  being,  but  of  becom- 
ing. The  short  view  impoverishes  by  taking  the 
mystery  out  of  life,  and  with  the  mystery  the 
hope  also.  Let  us  be  certain  that  any  explanation 
of  experience  which  does  not  relate  it  to  Eternity 
is  false.  There  is  a  despotism  of  the  immediate 
which  breeds  self-pity  that  must  be  resisted  at  all 
costs.  For  to  pity  ourselves  is  to  lose  every  moral 
value  of  God's  providential  handling  of  our  affairs. 
The  short  view  r'  Hfe  arouses  an  almost  angry 
spirit  of  self-justification  which  puts  us  hopelessly 
out  of  touch  vvith  God,  when  His  every  voice  is 
calling  us  closer  to  Him.  This  is  essentially  one 
of  the  perils  of  the  believer  to-day. 

It  is  impossible  to  overstate  the  calamity  which 


130       THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

these  present  days  have  brought  to  many  of  God's 
children.    Loved  ones  have  gone  out  to  the  battle- 
held  never  to  return;  hopes  have  been  blighted 
never  to  spring  again  into  being;  temporal  affairs 
have  been  disturbed  so  completely  as  to  be  impossi- 
ble of  repair.     The  keen  edge  of  the  sword  has 
cut  through  our  every  complacency  to  the  dividing 
asunder  of  soul  and  spirit.     And  nothing  but  the 
long  view  of  life  can  save  us  from  the  disaster 
of  utter  disheartenment.    But  it  can!    The  Divine 
Husbandman  prunes  the  vine  branches  with  a  view 
to  he     afterward  "  of  vintage  days.    He  harrows 
and  ploughs  mto  the  heart  of  the  soil  with  His 
hope  set  upon  the  "afterward"  of  golden  har- 
vest.   He  weeds  the  garden  of  the  soul,  uprooting 
every  noxious  thing  which  would  interfere  with 
the     afterward  "  of  fragrance  and  fruitfulness. 
And  If  we  learn  to  adopt  His  view  of  the  present 
we  shall  be  saved  from  the  destruction  which  walks 
in  this  darkened  noonday  of  trial.    Let  us  remem- 
ber that  holiness  is  not  inwrought  in  an  hour.    Men 
are  not  transformed  into  the  image  of  the  First- 
Horn,  apart  from  suffering  and  loss.     The  finer 
qualities  of  the  soul  are  not  quickened  and  de- 
veloped without  the  refiner's  fire  and  the  fuller's 

Here  then  is  the  interpretation  of  our  present 
treatment  at  His  hand.  If  His  love  seems  ?o  take 
unkindly  forms  it  is  only  because  His  purposes 
can  in  no  other  way  be  effected  in  us.  The  justi- 
fication of  the  way  He  takes,  and  of  the  instru- 


THE  LONG  VIEW  OF  LIFE  151 

raents  He  uses  for  our  discipline,  is  in  the  certain 
fruitfulness  of  the  days  to  come.  Let  us  look 
then  steadily  ahead,  and  we  shall  find  ourselves 
not  merely  becoming  acquiescent,  but  satisfied  with 
the  entire  reasonableness  of  His  discipline.  "  It 
doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be:  but  we 
know  .  .  . !  " 


in 

"  Thou  shalt  guide  me  with  Thy  counsel,  and 
afterward  receive  we  to  glory."  The  guided 
life  is  not  always  gilded  with  bright  sunshine,  nor 
is  the  life  protected  by  the  faithful  counsel  of  God 
always  peaceful.  Indeed,  it  often  appears  as 
though  a  loyal  following  of  His  direction  only 
brings  us  into  fiercer  conflict  and  darker  gloom. 
The  scorn  of  the  world  inevitably  falls  upon  him 
who  makes  the  good  pleasure  of  God  the  guiding 
principle  of  his  actions.  Other-worldliness  evokes 
sharp  opposition  on  the  part  of  those  who  dwell 
in  Vanity  Fair;  nor  do  they  fail  to  make  life  hard 
for  the  one  whose  ideals  condemn  their  frivolity. 
Happy  as  are  the  hours  he  spends  in  the  Inter- 
preter's House,  the  only  pathway  he  can  take 
thence  leads  through  the  Valley  of  Humiliation 
and  to  conflict  with  .Apollyon. 

To  say  that  the  guidance  of  God  is  at  times 
perplexing,  is  but  to  express  all  too  feebly  the  con- 
sciousness of  those  who  seek  to  take  His  way. 
And  here  again  it  is  the  long  view  of  life  which 
saves  them  from  bewilderment  and  despair.  There 


182       THE  COVFIDENTE  OF  FAITH 

is  an  "afterward  "  of  Glory  to  which  all  the  pres- 
ent guidance  of  Grace  is  bringing  us.    The  cer^ 
U  nty  of  „,  ,„,  ^^,^,  ^^^   S.^g^^  the  upward 
pathway  seem  as  nothing.     For  since  it  iVni 
counsel  alone  which  we  follow,  the  ul  Late  rea 
zafon  of  our  every  hope,  and  the  satisTac  ion 
our  ev       ,„,^i„^^^      ^^^^^  ^^^  ^  moment  in  loul 

w    d"^thich°h"  t"^'"  ^"'^'"'^  °^  '^'  "  -f'- 
ward     which  has  become  the  glowing  horizon  of 

our  soul's  vision.     It  is  when  this  gfeat    gh"  of 

si"^;,?"*""^  ''°'"  "'^  City  thft  lietKour! 
square,  falls  upon  every  common  hour  of  time  anH 

I^eTtabr  :f  '■".  '''''  ''"^^'--'  that  or^rts 
L  t  u  tlT'  ^'.'^"f '^^"^''  '°  ^°  -d  »°  bear, 
are  iken  ^n  r  '?  '^ese  days,  when  so  many 
around  rnH^-.u"*f''^  ^'"^  ^''=*  '«  happening 
to  wSh  thel  .  *''r°"^»^"!'y  -changing  prospect! 

1  ujc,  wnicn  IS  the  Divme  view.  It  will 
save  us  from  many  of  the  pitfalls  and  perils  whTch 
It  wSn^M  ""°  "'"■'^''  °*^™'-  we?ead  ly  f^' 
panic,  and  to  be  submissive  under  the  Divine  dis 

S'/fr  he"'  "f^'T    ''  ^'°"^  will'make'u 
secure  fhJ      T'''?  C°"""e  «f  the  King,  and 
befor:  H. '  •" p"'^' ''ay  -«  «hall  not  be  ashamed 
zeal  for  rT'  "  ^'i'  '"'P''""^  ■"  "^  a  passionate 

out  to  spend  and  be  spent  for  the  salvation  and 
fice  and  suflfer.ng  involved  are  not  worthy  to  te 


THE  LONG  VIEW  OF  LIFE  153 

compared  with  the  glory  that  shall  be  revealed  in 
us.  Does  the  anxious  and  gloomy  present  call  for 
anythmg  more  loudly  than  for  a  race  of  believers 
who  walk  according  to  this  rule,  and  mind  thi^ 
same  thmg?  Let  us  individually  determine  to  be 
of  their  number. 


8'" "" 


S'-k 


f.. '- 


r 


-K^    II 


XIX 

WHERE,  GRAVE,  THY  VICTORY? 

"/  must  shortly  put  off  this  tabernacle."— U  Peter  i  :  14. 

THE  real  test  of  any  philosophy  of  life,  or 
for  the  matter  of  that  of  any  professed 
faith  in  Christ  also,  is  nothing  less  than 
this— What  does  it  make  of  Death?     For  Death 
is  the  single  fact  of  human  experience  which  is  for 
ever  removed  from  the  realm  of  conjecture.    It  is 
the  one  indubitable  certainty  ahead  of  us  all.    Its 
manner  and  moment  are  hidden,  except  in  so  far 
as  we  know  that  we  shall  be  "gathered  one  by 
one."    Despite  every  advance  in  the  science  of  life, 
Death  remains  the  great  inexorable  event  which 
cannot  be  staved  off.    We  may  ignore  its  stealthy 
approach— and  it  is  as  well  that  we  should.    Deep 
down  in  the  consciousness  of  all,  however,  is  the 
knowledge  that  sooner  or  later— unless  we'  are  of 
those  who  shall  be  alive,  and  remain  unto  the 
Coming  of  the  Lord — we  shall  have  to  meet  it. 
Swiftly  and  without  warning  we  may  any  day 
have  to  look  Death  full  in  the  face,  either  our  own 
death,  or  that  of  those  who  are  dearer  to  us  than 
everything  in  life.     These  days  have  brought  this 
home  to  us  afresh— and  perhaps  we  needed  to  have 
it  so  brought  home.    For  life  by  its  mere  pleasant- 
1S4 


WHERE,  GRAVE,  THY  VICTORY?       153 

ness  is  apt  to  deceive  us  as  to  its  brevity.  We 
incline  to  live  as  though  our  days  were  unnum- 
bered, whereas  their  span  is  already  determined. 
But  to  the  Christian  this  reminder  should  bring  no 
fear.  The  greatest  triumph  of  the  Gospel  is  that 
Christ  has  stamped  the  experience  of  Death  with 
a  new  value.  In  His  light  we  can  see  light  where, 
apart  from  Him,  would  be  nothing  but  thick  dark- 
ness. 


We  sometimes  forget  that  f^e  mere  fact  of 
Death  has  brought  a  richness  mto  life  which  it 
could  not  else  have  had.  It  is,  for  instance,  the 
certainty  of  Death  which  takes  the  littleness  out 
of  life  and  invests  it  with  seriousness.  The  elab- 
orate emptiness,  the  complicated  triviality,  and  the 
carefully-planned  nonsense  which  go  to  the  make- 
up of  life  for  so  many,  are  all  revealed  in  their 
worthlessness  when  Death  intrudes  upon  any  circle 
m  earth's  fellowship  of  frivolity.  It  is  then  that 
those  who  are  left  are  ready  to  listen  to  the  voice 
of  this  most  eloquent  preacher  of  all,  and  under 
his  warning  to  set  themselves  toward  the  Life  that 
IS  life  indeed.  And  it  is  the  enforced  recognition 
of  Death  which  energizes  men  to  worthy  activities. 
When  it  is  realized  that  life  is  not  an  unending 
continuance,  that  its  horizon  cannot  be  pushed 
back  by  one  inch,  that  the  length  of  its  opportu- 
nity is  measured,  that  "  the  night  cometh  when  no 
man  can  work,"  it  helps,  as  nothing  else  does. 


1 


156       THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

toward  concentration  upon  the  present  duty  of 
living  worthily.  And  it  is  the  sureness  of  Death 
which  puts  passion  into  human  love.  For  it  deen- 
ens  all  our  relationships,  and  clothes  our  friend- 
ships with  a  significance  which  they  could  never 
otherwise  wear.  It  gives  eyes  to  our  affections, 
and  acts  as  an  inspiration  to  the  duties  of  svm- 

closelfnlr^'f"''."'''-  "^^"^  ^'^  bound 
edlth?"^ ''''':!  '^'^  "'''''  'he  certain  knowl- 
edge that  one  day  they  must  be  separated  far  be- 
yond sound  of  voice  and  touch  of  hand.  Yes 
Mill  ]  '"'  "i'T"  '"  '"^'^■"S  ''^^  '""^e  fruit: 
suLhS      r"  ''''°^  r  '^''"  'h«"  »he  world's 

when  it  hI'  """  ""  '"^'["^"^^ly  shrink  from  Death 
when  It  draws  near  either  to  ourselves  or  our  loved 
ones.      Impotent   before  its   advance    and   aZn 

give  all  they  possess  to  buy  off  its  Prini     Rnt 
tl:e  great  Leveller  is  impJable.     Def^^know 
neither  respect  of  person  nor  of  characte      Und! 
:ts  sway  rich  and  poor  meet  together.    When  is 
': sVL rer   or-  '"  T  ^""^  °"''"  ««- helpL  ! 

howeler  Death  hT    "'  "'"'"■    ^°^  C''"^''^"^. 
nowever,  Death  has  no  terrors.    The  Gospel  rings 

with    triumph    over    its   destruction,   althoug"    a 
its  exultant  proclamat  on  is  of  a  Cr,,,^     L 
??■-''-  -^^  -ed  away.'l^Jf^oSThenTe  i" 
Victim  has  emerged  a  Victor.     Having  "tasted 


mwrtmsi 


WHERE,  GRAVE,  THY  VICTORYp       ht 

-bars  and  torn  away  .s^riS^ntrSu 


that  In'^oSe  'Tc^'Z  ^"'--*  "'^'o^y 
revaluatedts  power  As  th^  r»/ !i  r  ,  •  '  ^""^ 
worthy  that  the  tels^lw.ic^Xr.se    L"  t£ 

over  a  univVsa,  k.^o  "  y'  heeHe^r '  t"^ 
a  beast  with  harmful  stin^  after  thl  f  u'  /  •" 
progenitor  in  Eden    Tt  ITl        ^^''''°"  "^  ''« 

Christ  was  better  knovvn  and   H^  '  ^" 

the  Sfn  of  M  rJea^  "ff°-;  ^^.d;-  -hose  keys 
dying  came  to  beTeTrded"   thl      '    ^^'■^'^  °^ 

angei,  mat     all  thmgs  are  yours,  whether 


/ 

'1 

mi 

il:. 

t-  -■    n 
JflB', 


I 


158       THE  COXFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

Life  or  Death ! "  Those  who  died  in  the  Faith 
were  thought  of  as  resting  from  their  labours. 
And  to  all  it  became  a  vanquished  enemy,  con- 
quered by  Christ,  and  for  ever  powerless  to  sep- 
arate them  from  the  love  of  God—their  true  life. 
All  of  which  goes  to  show  that  to  the  early 
disciples  Death  meant  infinitely  less  of  terror  and 
shrinking  than  il  means  to  many  of  us.  For  this 
IS  not  merely  the  record  of  changing  nomenclature 
without  spiritual  meaning.  These  men  had  come 
to  regard  Death  from  the  standpoint  of  the  Res- 
urrection. Hence  it  was  robbed  of  its  angry  look, 
and  actually  became  bright  with  a  certain  power  of 
benediction.  It  lost  its  menace  because  it  had 
found  its  Master.  And  He  was  their  Friend  and 
Saviour !  With  the  Puritans  of  a  later  day,  they 
could  .speak  of  "  the  death  of  Death  in  the  death 
of  Christ."  Surely  we  need  to  recover  something 
of  this  their  confidence,  when  the  shadow  hangs 
dark  over  every  home,  and  when  all  around  us  are 
men  and  women  to  whom  the  very  mention  of 
Death  brings  nothing  but  dispeace  and  despair. 

Ill 
Nothing  affords  a  more  striking  example  of  the 
Christian  interpretation  of  Death  than  the  experi- 
ence of  Peter.  His  early  fear  of  Death  had  been 
responsible  for  his  desertion  and  denial  of  Christ, 
when  it  seemed  likely  that  fidelity  would  have 
brought  him  to  Calvary  with  Him.  Later  he  had 
learned   from   Christ's   own   lips   that   whatever 


WHERE,  GRAVE,  THY  VICTORY?       159 

rnight  be  in  store  for  the  other  disciples-whether 
they  should  hve  to  witness  His  ReJurn  or  not- 
he  must  certainly  die  before  that  great  event  This 
prophefc  word  isolated  him  in  this  respect  from 
every  other  d.sc.ple  in  his  own  day  or  ours.  And 
yet  It  IS  significant  that  his  Letters  are  full  of  the 

T^ri'fT'  '''"^''^  ^PP-""S-  It  was  thil 
De,tW  \  x.'"^  °^^"  ''^''^  transformed 
fs  he  Jr  r-  ^°'u^'  '^"^^  "^^*  ""-'^d  to  Christ 
as  he  was,  he  must  have  some  share  in  it.    Death 

TnlL  .  ru  ^"'*  ^"J"'"'»de  of  preparation,  a 
^HL^o-erth."^^^^"'''^'''^-'^^--™ 

./°."i'  "'^l'''  'P'^'^'  °^  D^^th  as  the  "  putting 
off  o  this  tabernacle."  For  him  it  has  been  r"! 
duced  to  these  simple  things,  the  changing  of  a 
garment^  a.,d  the  removal  of  a  tent,  o/e  dV  he 
body,  which  ,s  just  the  garment  of  the  soul,l  to 
De  put  off,  m  order  that  he  may  "  put  on  "  in- 
corruption  and  immortality.  It  is  merely  the  tent 
ts  h1  '''  P"^"--Pi"t  rests  night  b/ night  on 

to^.Tr  A  ""■''■  "^"^  °"«  ^^y  *e  tent  is 
to  be  taken  down,  its  curtains  rolled  up,  and  its 
pojes  and  ropes  put  away.  It  is  to  be  exchanged 
for  a  mansion  m  "the  City  which  hath  founda- 
tions, whose  Builder  and  Maker  is  God  "I 

if  Peter  is  right  in  these  conceptions,  then  Christ 
has  imposed  rigid  limitations  upon  Death  It  c"  n 
only  ouch  whatis  outward  and  unimportant.  Our 
true  life  ,s  obviously  a  continuity.  For  when  a 
man  changes  his  clothes  he  still  remains  the  ^me 


i 


!  I;  . ' 


160       THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  FAITH 

man.  When  he  ceases  to  live  in  a  tent  and  be- 
comes an  inhabitant  of  a  City,  he  is  still  the  same 
man.  You  hear  people  asking  nowadays :  "  Where 
are  the  dead  ?  "  Thty  are  just  where  they  have 
always  been.  If  they  have  lived  with  Christ  here 
they  are  with  Christ  still.  If  they  have  consented 
to  live  apart  from  Him  here,  they  are  apart  from 
Him  still.  Death  does  not  work  any  miracle.  It 
has  no  power  to  transform  the  disposition,  nor  to 
sanctify  the  soul— even  though  it  be  gallantly  met 
on  the  field  of  battle.  It  can  but  deliver  to  decay 
the  old  worn-out  garment  and  weather-beaten  tent. 
The  real  man,  the  man  united  to  Christ,  is  beyond 
Its  reach.    He  is  alive  for  evermore. 

We  are  all  either  too  fearful  or  too  fanciful 
about  Death,  and  need  to  rid  ourselves  of  false 
conceptions  regarding  it,  by  living  in  the  light  of 
the  Gospel  declarations.  For  in  all  the  story  of 
Its  redeeming  energy  and  influence,  there  is  noth- 
ing which  shines  out  in  the  Evangel  of  Christ  with 
such  glow  as  His  transformation  of  the  grim  fact 
of  Death.  Its  darkness  is  past,  indeed,  for  all  who 
accept  the  still  greater  Fact  of  Christ.  We  may 
sorrow  at  its  coming,  but  not  as  men  without  hope. 
We  may  mourn  those  whom  it  snatches  from  our 
arms,  but  not  without  certainty  of  glorious  reunion. 
For  we  are  "  more  than  conquerors  "  over  all  its 
f rownings  and  force  "  through  Him  Who  loved 
us.      What  a  Gospel  for  days  like  these  I 

PUNTED  m  THE  tJNITEI)  STARS  OF  AUEUCA 


'•• 


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